Verizon Communications Inc. on Thursday named company executive Matthew Ellis as its next chief financial officer to replace the retiring Francis Shammo, a 27-year veteran of the company. Shammo will hand over the CFO title to Ellis on November 1, then will stay through the end of the year to help with the transition.
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Verizon said its board of directors appointed Matthew D. Ellis, who is now senior vice president and CFO-operations finance, to succeed Shammo. Shammo has been with the company for 27 years, and will be retiring at the end of the year. He also lauded Ellis for having raised $49 billion in debt financing “in one day” to complete Verizon’s buyout of its wireless business from Vodafone (VOD). He served in various roles during his career at Verizon, including president and CEO of Verizon Telecom and Business as well as president of the Western region for Verizon Wireless and VP and controller at the time of Verizon Wireless’ launch in 1999.
Ellis, 45, joined Verizon in 2013 after 15 years at Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N in various roles.
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“While Fran will be greatly missed, I respect his decision to retire, and I am pleased that he will stay through year-end to ensure a smooth transition”, noted Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam, in a statement. Shammo was appointed CFO in November 2010. “At the same time, we will look to see if the some of the recent changes in executive roles impact the company’s ambitions to further optimize the existing asset portfolio, especially as it relates to the wireline operations”, Citigroup added.
