Verizon shakeup: Hans Vestberg out, new CEO Dan Schulman runs a ranch and wears cowboy boots

Verizon just announced that its current CEO, Hans Vestberg, is stepping down—and the wireless carrier is pulling another seasoned leader out of retirement to take its helm.

In a press release published on October 6, Verizon announced that former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman will be leading the company, effective immediately. In the meantime, Vestberg (who has held the title since 2018) will stay on as a special advisor at the company until October 4, 2026.

Schulman has served on Verizon’s board of directors since 2018, and was elected lead independent director in December 2024.

“Dan is a seasoned and decisive leader with a unique set of experiences, and a proven record of transformative leadership and operational excellence,” Mark Bertolini, Verizon’s board chair, said in the press release. “He is the right leader to chart Verizon’s next phase of increased customer focus and financial growth.”

The leadership change comes during a promising moment for Verizon: This July, the company raised its annual profit forecast from $0.15 billion to $2 billion thanks to a favorable U.S. tax reform. Currently, Verizon’s main focus is on bulking up its internet services to compete with rivals like AT&T and T-Mobile.

Here’s what to know about Schulman as he steps in at Verizon.

His most recent job was CEO of PayPal

Schulman’s most recent high-profile gig was at PayPal, where he served as president and CEO from 2014 to 2023. During that time, he tripled the company’s revenue from $8 billion to $30 billion, all the while advocating for Wall Street leaders to use their financial power for good.

“If you look at the state of our country today, it’s clear that capitalism needs an upgrade,” Schulman told attendees at a gala in 2020, per a Fast Company profile at the time. “People don’t believe that the system is working for them. For democracy to flourish, you need to rise above your own self-interest. But how can you rise above your own self-interest when you are struggling to make ends meet every day?”

The solution, he argued, was for business leaders to “stand for more than just making money” on behalf of shareholders.

He runs a ranch in his off-time

In February 2023, Schulman announced his retirement and officially moved on from PayPal in December of that year. Since then, he’s served on various companies’ boards—including Cisco, Lazard, and JUST Capital—positions that, per his LinkedIn, he’s balanced with plenty of off-time at his family’s Montana ranch, which is home to more than 500 cattle.

Now, it seems, he’s walking back his retirement to take the lead at Verizon.

He has a long history in the C suite

Before his legendary run at PayPal, Schulman spent decades rising through the executive ranks at various other companies. He held leadership positions at AT&T, Priceline.com, Virgin Mobile USA, and American Express, to name a few.

He has a recognizable uniform

Plenty of CEOs have a go-to outfit. Schulman’s is a bit different from the black turtleneck variety: He’s most commonly seen in a pair of light-wash jeans and cowboy boots.