John Legere | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Legere in 2018 | |
| Born | John Joseph Legere (1958-06-04)June 4, 1958 (age 67) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | former CEOT-Mobile US |
| Term | September 2012 – April 2020 |
| Successor | Mike Sievert |
| Board member of | T-Mobile US |
| Children | 2 |
John Legere (born June 4, 1958) is an American businessman, formerchief executive officer (CEO) and president ofT-Mobile US. He previously worked forAT&T,Dell, andGlobal Crossing. He resigned as CEO following the approval of the merger of T-Mobile andSprint.
A Massachusetts native, Legere graduated fromSt. Bernard's Central Catholic School inFitchburg, Massachusetts and aspired to be a gym teacher, before he figured out he wanted a more lucrative career and decided to study business instead.[1] He received an AccountingBBA from theIsenberg School of Management at theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst, anMS, as anAlfred P. Sloan fellow, at theMIT Sloan School of Management and anMBA fromFairleigh Dickinson University. He also completedHarvard Business School's Program for Management Development (PMD).[2][3]
Legere was appointed CEO of T-Mobile US in September 2012, and has since been noted for T-Mobile's "Un-carrier" approach to contract-free wireless networks.[4]
He first worked in telecommunications at New England Telephone in 1980.[5] Legere then spent nearly twenty years atAT&T, where he spent some time working underDaniel Hesse, formerly CEO ofSprint Corporation.[1] He was chief executive forAT&T Asia from April 1994 to November 1997, and also spent time as head of AT&T Global Strategy and Business Development. From 1997 to 1998, he was president of the worldwide outsourcing subsidiary of AT&T, AT&T Solutions.[6][2][7]
Legere then worked as senior vice president ofDell and president and chief operations officer for Dell's Operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and president, Asia-Pacific for Dell from 1998 to February 2000. Prior to joining T-Mobile US, he was CEO of Asia Global Crossing from February 2000 to January 2002, and CEO ofGlobal Crossing from October 2001 to October 2011 where he led the organization through bankruptcy and eventually an acquisition byLevel 3 Communications.[1][6] His leadership at Global Crossing wascontroversial, which included large executive bonuses and filing for bankruptcy.[8]
He is on theCTIA board of directors,[9] and has been a director of the CTIA wireless internet caucus, since October 2012. He was a director of Global Crossing, from October 2001 to December 2003, and Sanrise Group and Asia Global Crossing, from April 2000 to March 2002. He was a director ofON Semiconductor.[6] He is a member of the board ofNew York Road Runners.[10]
Legere succeeded Jim Alling, and became CEO of T-Mobile USA, September 2012.[5] In November 2019, Legere announced via hisTwitter account he would be stepping down as the CEO for T-Mobile US on April 30, 2020, when his current contract expires.Mike Sievert, who waschief operating officer at the time, was announced as Legere’s replacement. The change was originally planned to become effective on May 1, 2020.[11] Following the merger with Sprint being completed early, Legere officially resigned as CEO on April 1, 2020.[12]
He joined the board of Paradise Mobile[13] as a strategic advisor in December 2024.[14]
Legere was a nationally competitive runner in college and post-college and still competes in events with fellow employees. In 2004, he completed theBoston Marathon as a member of theDana–Farber Cancer Institute Marathon Challenge team.[6] In May 2016 in support of competitive running, he purchased ad space onNick Symmonds' shoulder for T-Mobile.[15]
He has been a member of the corporate advisory board of the School of Business and Management,Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the government relations committee of the American Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong.[6] 1 adopted daughter.
Legere has been divorced twice and has two daughters.[16][17]
Since 2016, he has pitched his ideas and asked people to sign up for T-Mobile service with a cooking show on Facebook Live, called "Slow Cooker Sunday" which, as its name suggests, runs every Sunday.[18] In 2018, he wrote a cookbook featuring recipes he used in slow cooker Sunday broadcasts titled "#SlowCookerSunday – Leadership, Life and Slow Cooking with CEO and Chef, John Legere". The book includes a foreword fromMartha Stewart, a friend of Legere's. The proceeds of the book go to the charityFeeding America.[19]
