AT&T is considering splitting its telecom and media assets after acquiring Time Warner Inc., giving AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson oversight over two separate divisions.
The structure under consideration, reported earlier by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, would put AT&T’s DirectTV and telecom operations in one unit and the Time Warner media assets in another.
Such a split could see AT&T chief strategy officer John Donovan promoted to CEO of the telecom unit, while AT&T entertainment chief John Stankey takes over the media assets, according to the reports. The media unit would include Time Warner’s HBO, Warner Bros., and Turner cable channels, which includes CNN.
In an email to CNNMoney, AT&T spokesperson Larry Solomon confirmed that Stephenson would remain CEO of the company after the acquisition but said no other leadership decisions had been made.
“No decisions on organizational structure or leadership have been finalized,” Solomon told CNNMoney. “Randall and [Time Warner CEO] Jeff [Bewkes] are working through that. Randall will remain chairman and CEO of AT&T once the deal closes.”
A Time Warner spokesperson referred all questions on the matter to AT&T.
AT&T’s $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner is still under antitrust review by the Justice Department.
