Who Owns Verizon?

Verizon Communications is a publicly listed company on the NYSE under ticker VZ, with no controlling shareholder. Shares are spread across institutional asset managers and retail investors. In 2025 Verizon reported $138.2 billion in revenue and served 146.8 million wireless customers across the United States.

Who Owns Verizon?

Verizon Communications has a widely dispersed shareholder base with no single controlling owner. Institutional asset managers hold the majority of the float, while retail investors hold roughly a third.

Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street together own more than 22 percent of outstanding shares. Insider ownership sits below 1 percent. The Board of Directors is chaired by Mark Bertolini, and Dan Schulman has served as CEO since October 2025.

Verizon Origin, Founders and Early Years

Verizon was incorporated on June 30, 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Final FCC approval cleared the deal earlier that year. Ivan Seidenberg of Bell Atlantic and Charles Lee of GTE led the consolidation.

GTE shareholders received 1.22 Bell Atlantic shares for every GTE share, producing a fragmented public ownership base from day one. The Verizon Wireless joint venture originally split ownership 55 percent Verizon and 45 percent Vodafone, a structure that placed Verizon among the top three US telecommunications carriers by lines served.

Largest Shareholders of Verizon

Who Is on the Board of Directors for Verizon?

Leadership and Strategy

Finance and Capital Markets

Technology and Operations

Consumer and Marketing

Verizon Products and Services

How Did Verizon Get Its Name?

The name Verizon combines two roots. “Veri” comes from the Latin word veritas, meaning truth. “Horizon” suggests reach and forward direction. The combination is intended to convey reliability paired with technological progress.

Naming agency Landor Associates created the brand at the time of the 2000 Bell Atlantic and GTE merger. The new name needed to feel modern and distinct from either predecessor company.

The Verizon logo was redesigned in 2015 by Pentagram, with a flat checkmark replacing the older red swoosh. Verizon Communications is the public corporate name; the wireless arm operated as Verizon Wireless until the 2019 restructuring folded it into Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business. Industry analysts at technology trend forecasts for 2026 continue to track the brand’s evolution.

Verizon Mission Statement

Verizon’s stated mission is to build the networks that move the world forward. The company describes its purpose as creating the digital connectivity that lets people, businesses, and society prosper.

The four corporate values are integrity, respect, performance excellence, and accountability. These appear in annual reports and shareholder letters dating back to the early 2000s.

Under CEO Dan Schulman, Verizon has reinforced three operating priorities: market share growth across all segments, lower cost to serve, and disciplined capital allocation. These goals tie to long-term shareholder returns and continued investment in fiber, 5G, and fixed wireless coverage, in line with broader digital infrastructure shifts expected by 2030.

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