Verizon has announced former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman as the carrier's next CEO.

The CEO transition at the company means that current chief Hans Vestberg steps down from the role, which he has held since 2018.

In the company's announcement yesterday, Verizon confirmed Vestberg will serve as special advisor through October 4, 2026.

Schulman was CEO at PayPal for nearly a decade, before stepping down from the company in 2023.

He's also previously held leadership roles at Verizon's rival, AT&T, plus senior roles at Virgin Mobile, Priceline, and American Express. He's been a member of Verizon's board of directors since 2018, and was elected lead independent director in December of last year.

“I believe in Verizon and its future, and I am honored to be chosen to serve as CEO,” said Schulman. “Verizon is at a critical juncture. We have a clear opportunity to redefine our trajectory, by growing our market share across all segments of the market, while delivering meaningful growth in our key financial metrics. We are going to maximize our value propositions, reduce our cost to serve, and optimize our capital allocation to delight our customers, and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders."

He joins the carrier at a time where it's pushing to finalize its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, one of the company's notable M&A deals during Vestberg's leadership.

Vestberg has led Verizon through the 5G era, during which time the telco has invested heavily in the technology, including a $52bn purchase of C-Band spectrum back in 2021.

“Over the last eight years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented and dedicated people in the industry, and together we’ve built a network that truly connects people to what matters most," said Vestberg, noting that it's the right time to pass the leadership on.

Verizon's change of CEO comes a fortnight after another US telco, T-Mobile, changed its own CEO, appointing Srini Gopalan in place of Mike Sievert.

Following the announcement yesterday, Verizon shares dropped by three percent.

It was reported last week that Verizon was in talks to acquire spectrum from EchoStar.