Hans Vestberg


Hans Vestberg is a Swedish businessman and CEO of Verizon Communications, where he has worked as executive vice president of the company's network and technology team, and as chief technology officer. Vestberg was previously the CEO of telecommunications company Ericsson, president of the Swedish Olympic Committee, and is a former chairman of the Swedish Handball Federation.

Early life and education

Hans Vestberg was born in Hudiksvall, Sweden, in 1965. He studied at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, where he received a degree in Business Administration and Economics in 1991.

Career

Vestberg began his career in Hudiksvall at Ericsson Cables in 1991. He worked at Ericsson for 25 years, with management roles for the company in Sweden, China, Brazil, Mexico and the United States. He was CFO for Ericsson in Brazil from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2002, Vestberg was CFO for Ericsson in North America and comptroller for the Americas. He served as president for Ericsson in Mexico from 2002 to 2003. Afterward, he served as a senior vice president and executive vice president for Ericsson before he was named chief financial officer in 2007, a post he held through 2009. Vestberg became the first CEO of Ericsson without an engineering background when he replaced Carl-Henric Svanberg in January 2010. Ericsson ousted Vestberg on July 25, 2016, following poor financial results.
Vestberg joined Verizon as the company's chief technology officer and executive vice president of its network and technology team on April 3, 2017. There, he oversaw Verizon's fiber network and the development of Verizon's nascent 5G network. On June 8, 2018, Verizon announced that Vestberg would succeed Lowell McAdam as the company's chief executive officer on August 1, 2018.

Sports

Vestberg was the chairman of the Swedish Handball Federation from 2007 to 2016. He left the Swedish Handball Federation to serve as president of the Swedish Olympic Committee from 2016 to 2018 as the country vied to host the 2026 Winter Olympics to Stockholm and Åre. Vestberg had previously played semipro handball in Brazil.

Personal life

Vestberg is married and has two children. Vestberg is fluent in Swedish, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.