AT&T announces John Stankey will become CEO on July 1

(Reuters) – AT&T Inc said Friday that Chief Operating Officer John Stankey will take over as chief executive officer, effective July 1.

Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s current CEO, said Friday he will retire, but will serve as executive chairman of the board until January 2021.

The announcement was made during AT&T’s virtual annual meeting.

Stankey oversaw WarnerMedia after AT&T’s $85 billion purchase of media company Time Warner. He was promoted to COO last year.

“After an extensive evaluation, it was clear that John Stankey was the right person to lead AT&T into the future,” Stephenson said.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)