By Executives decisions over the past 15 years. Share price in the toilet and soon more dividend cutting sending it further down. All the decimation of employee benefits did t have to happen either. Pretty much you have a zombie company with a zombie workforce not giving a dam. Why should you when your contributions and career are in the path of the Financial F5 Tornado that was Stevenson and now Stankey. If the balance sheet will allow it Stankey will be looking for redemption from Clown College and will be trying to convince the board to make another disastrous acquisition.
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We should fire Whitacre and Stephenson.
Plus factor in all the lost revenue over the years by giving CPR to a struggling competitor in Tmobile. Tmobile offer was something like $40B and now they are a $180B market cap. Stankey, Stevenson, and Board are modern day doofuses that can write big checks with other people's jobs, retirement income, and investments. Just another way to sc--w the 99% for the benefit of the 1%, plain and simple.
AT&T Acquires Multiple Companies from 1997-2015 (Drop of $200B in share equity value on overpriced or outright bad deals).
For a collection of deals over two decades, the duo of Whitacre and Stephenson at AT&T reign supreme in total bad deals by spending $340B in equity on a series of deals (summary below) to have a remaining firm equity value of $140B.
Two deals alone, Ameritech and Bell South, involved an equity use in total greater than AT&T's market capitalization today.
An additional bonus is that much of the management and Board that approved these horrendous deal still remain at T.
AT&T - A HISTORICAL DEAL ACQUISITION PERSPECTIVE
Deal $'s represent equity used in acquisitions (assumption of debt the typical arrangement). NOTE: This does not include the T-Mobile disaster since that deal was never officially approved.
1997 Starting Point - SBC $40B market cap
1997 - Buys Pacific Bell $17B
1998 - Buys SNET $4B
2000 - Buys Ameritech $81B
2004 - Buys AT&T Wireless $24B (60%)
2005 - Buys AT&T $16B
2006 - Buys Bell South $67B
2015 - Buys DTV $49B
2016 - Buys Warner $85B
Total counting starting point - $383B
Less Warner spinoff -($43B)
Net: $340B
Market Cap after Warner spinoff $140B
Equity Shrinkage $200B
AT&T sure does generate lots of revenue and free cash flow for a zombie company. Go zombie. Go AT&T!
"Doesn't make sense...the current corporate tax rate is at 21%. T already pays this amount, so if the minimum it will be forced to pay is 15%, I can't see how that will be such a huge difference. At 21% with write-offs, they might be paying around 15% anyway, so what's the big deal? OK, let's say T is really paying 10% with write-offs. Another 5% is gonna break its back...doubtful, very doubtful!"
AT&T claims they will make $2 billion less this year because people are paying their bill 2 days late and you think a 5% increase in taxes won't make a difference?! AT&T is skating on thin ice right now. Layoffs are coming if not this year then the 1st quarter of next year is going to be very bad. The best hope to avoid layoffs is if a lot of people retire this year, but since that happened last year to avoid losing benefits I highly doubt there are that many that will leave or can even afford to with the current state of the economy.
Employees have been getting paid. Good salary. Good benefits. No shredding. Just complaining for the sake of complaining.
"How does Stankey sleep at night?"
Stankey makes more in a year than 99% of T employees make in a lifetime at the company. He could come down with some disease that's only treated by some doctor in Switzerland, and he'd fly there business class for treatment while staying in some 5-star luxury hospital. He could tank the stock another five points & stroll on into the office at 11 the next day with a smirk. He'll never want or need anything not related to his ego for the rest of his life.
I'd say he sleeps like a baby.
Doesn't make sense...the current corporate tax rate is at 21%. T already pays this amount, so if the minimum it will be forced to pay is 15%, I can't see how that will be such a huge difference. At 21% with write-offs, they might be paying around 15% anyway, so what's the big deal? OK, let's say T is really paying 10% with write-offs. Another 5% is gonna break its back...doubtful, very doubtful!
Good point in corp tax. Do u think there’s anyway T would do a voluntary vs. an involuntary for morale purposes? (Maybe enough people would take?)
If the financial bill passes with a minimum 15% corporate tax , T employees are toast. The company cannot absorb that without significant resource shedding.
How does Stankey sleep at night?
Don’t worry about the company. Worry about yourself. Seriously. All any of us can do is make as much money as we can here while keeping a finger on the pulse for other opportunities. Sc--w att. Worry about “me”.