Corporate Experience Pays Off for AT&T
Q3 earnings for telecommunications giant AT&T Inc rose 41.5%, boosted by the acquisition of BellSouth and new wireless customers. Strong sales of Apple’s iPhone, which has an exclusive service contract with AT&T, also brought in new customers for AT&T ( see Jeffrey Bartash’s article from MarketWatch.com). Since AT&T is one of the most successful, as well oldest and largest, companies in America we decided to create on IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the Board of Directors in order to “visualize” their corporate experience. We found that AT&T has perhaps one of the most experienced boards in corporate America, if not the world (Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).
The multitude of companies and industries represented on the Board of Directors at AT&T is quite impressive. Two Directors, Lynn Martin and Laura Tyson, together have corporate ties to nearly thirty entities. Other well-known Directors include James Kelly (former Chairman/CEO of UPS), August Busch III (former Chairman/CEO of Anheuser Busch) and Charles Knight (Chairman Emeritus of Emerson Electric Co). Other well known companies represented on the Board of Directors include Tupperware, PG&E Corporation, Marriott, the Union Bank of California, KKR Financial, HSBC, Charles Schwab, Kroger, Proctor and Gamble, Deloitte Touche, Eastman Kodak, Morgan Stanley, Visa, Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc, and Phelps Dodge.
Besides corporations several non-corporate organizations are also present on the Board. These organizations range from academic institutions to hospitals to NGOs to government. Some of the more noteworthy are the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the University of California at Berkeley, the Asia Foundation, and the Institute for International Economics. Of particular interest is Director Lynn Martin, who served as Secretary of Labor and is a former Congresswoman.
This broad range of experience allows the Directors at AT&T to consult a huge network of resources and information should they encounter any problems. Also, given that their experience covers a wide range of industries, the Directors are most likely able to think creatively and “outside the box” to solve problems.
Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer browsers only): http://nv.intellectspace.com
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