Verizon pulls trigger on McAdam for Seidenberg

Lowell McAdam will take over as CEO of Verizon Communications August 1, replacing Ivan Seidenberg who will stay on as chairman.

The news, which came as part of Verizon’s strong earnings report this morning (Briefing Room: Verizon Reports Accelerated Revenue Growth, Expanded Margins and Strong 2Q Earnings Performance), had been expected. In September, McAdam moved from head of Verizon Wireless to become president and COO of all of Verizon, positioning for the top spot (CP: VZW’s McAdam being groomed to succeed CEO Seidenberg).

While Verizon does big business with its FiOS broadband and TV services and is knee deep into enterprise/cloud services, its future is clearly led by its wireless business, making former wireless boss McAdam an obvious choice to take over as CEO. That wireless business, by the way, is rolling right along, as today’s earnings attest.

Seidenberg’s 28-year telecom career culminated in the Verizon CEO post, where in recent years he’s positioned the company as a major player not only in the U.S. but around the world.

McAdam will have responsibility for all operations of Verizon. He has been a member of Verizon’s executive leadership team since 2000. He has been COO since last fall and served on the Verizon board since March. McAdam oversaw Verizon’s rise as a wireless power, serving as executive vice president/COO upon its founding in 2000 and taking over as VZW CEO in 2007.

Read more: Briefing Room: Verizon Names Lowell McAdam as CEO; Ivan Seidenberg to Remain Chairman