Verizon

Verizon just handed the top job to Dan Schulman, who as CEO of PayPal tripled that company's revenue from 8 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars and grew its earnings five-fold. He is not an outsider either, having served on Verizon's board since 2018. The board picked him specifically to jumpstart growth at a company whose stock has gone nowhere for years.

Verizon is buying Frontier Communications for 20 billion dollars, a deal expected to close in early 2026 that dramatically expands its high-speed fiber internet network. Even before the deal, the company generated about 134.8 billion dollars in revenue last year. Management also kept its full-year 2025 targets unchanged, a signal of steady footing during the leadership change.

The 20 billion dollar Frontier purchase is exciting, but it piles more borrowing onto a company that already carries one of the largest debt loads in corporate America. With interest rates staying higher for longer, paying that down while investing in the network will eat into cash for years. A new CEO does not make that math any easier overnight.

The US wireless market is mature and barely grows, with Verizon's sales rising only about 2.5 percent a year. T-Mobile keeps stealing customers aggressively, AT&T is fighting back hard, and new satellite players are creeping in. Any stumble in keeping customers could quickly undo the fresh optimism around the new leadership.