Verizon appoints interim replacement as consumer division CEO exits

Verizon’s consumer division chief Sowmyanarayan Sampath will step down at the end of the first quarter, a leadership change that comes as the US telecom group presses ahead with a broader turnaround effort.

Fierce Wireless reported that Verizon chief executive Dan Schulman said Sampath had agreed “now is the right time” to leave his role as CEO of the Verizon Consumer Group, adding that he will remain through the end of the quarter to support a smooth transition.

The departure removes a senior executive who was widely viewed as a potential successor to Verizon’s top job before the abrupt exit of former CEO Hans Vestberg last October. Schulman, a long-serving board member, took over the chief executive role following Vestberg’s departure, reshaping expectations around succession.

The Financial Times reported earlier this week that Verizon had contacted potential candidates to replace Sampath, citing sources who said the executive had received several employment offers but had not yet finalised his next move.

Verizon has appointed Alfonso Villanueva, its executive vice president and chief transformation officer, to lead the consumer unit on an interim basis. Villanueva joined Verizon in November and previously held senior roles at PayPal, where Schulman served as president and chief executive between 2014 and 2023.

Sampath, a decade-long Verizon veteran, led the company’s business division before being appointed head of the consumer group in March 2023. His tenure coincided with mounting pressure in Verizon’s largest unit, which has struggled with customer losses and weaker financial metrics.

While Verizon added 616,000 phone customers in the fourth quarter of 2025, Fierce Wireless noted that key indicators such as average revenue per user remained soft, underlining the challenges in restoring momentum in the consumer franchise.

Last year, Sampath launched a customer service overhaul aimed at improving experience and retention, including a high-profile effort to make himself directly accessible to customers. Industry analysts, however, questioned the effectiveness of the initiative.

Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, told Fierce Wireless that leadership accountability was unavoidable when performance lagged. “When you run a group, the CEO has to take responsibility,” he said.

The leadership shift underscores Verizon’s effort to reset its consumer strategy as competition intensifies and operational efficiency becomes central to its transformation agenda. With Schulman’s contract running through 2027, investors will be watching closely for permanent leadership decisions and signs of stabilisation in the company’s core customer base.