Brightspeed has announced a leadership succession plan. This will enable company to continue execution of company’s mission to bring faster and safe internet service to more than 3 million homes and business across its 20-state footprint.
Tom Maguire, current chief operating officer, will succeed Bob Mudge as chief executive officer. Mudge will step into role of executive chair of board of directors, responsible for direction of the company. Brightspeed will also welcome Manuel (Manny) Sampedro as chief operating officer.
“When we began our exploration of a new internet company in 2020, Bob Mudge, Chris Creager and Tom Maguire were the advisors we trusted to help evaluate and shape the opportunity. We asked each of them to stay on to take the company through the launch and initial stabilisation, and we’ve been so pleased with all that this team has accomplished so far. As planned, Chris transitioned to an advisor role earlier this year, and this next transition is a natural next step in the team’s evolution,” said Aaron Sobel, partner, private equity at Apollo and Brightspeed Board member.
“Bob has helped to shape Brightspeed into the growing, thriving company it is today, and I’m pleased he has agreed to step into the role of executive chair for our Board, where he will remain actively involved in the company.” Aaron adds.
“Leading Brightspeed has been one of the most rewarding and challenging opportunities of my career,” says Mudge. “We established our vision and aligned a talented team to execute, and we’re seeing those early efforts pay off as we near our one-year anniversary. The progress we have made in our top three priorities of improving customer service, building a next-generation fiber network and investing in our teams is substantial. I’m eager to continue supporting Brightspeed’s growth as executive chair, while making way for Tom to lead us to even greater achievements.”
Sobel continues, “I could not be more excited about Tom assuming the role of CEO. His industry expertise and depth of experience with Brightspeed will contribute to our continued success and growth trajectory. The addition of Manny to the team rounds out what I believe is the best team in the industry, particularly around innovation, customer service, operational excellence and engineering.”
With more than four decades of experience in telecommunications, Tom Maguire brings a breadth of expertise to his new role. Beginning as a field technician and rising through various management and leadership roles at Verizon, Tom ultimately served as SVP, national operations support, responsible for processes and systems supporting an operations team of 35,000 field technicians, engineering and network operations employees. In his role as COO at Brightspeed, Tom leads a team of nearly 3,000 employees and is responsible for service and repair, as well as the company’s multi-year fiber network deployment.
“I’m honored to expand my role at Brightspeed and continue to build on the legacy that Bob, Chris and I helped to establish,” says Maguire. “Brightspeed has an incredibly promising future, and it’s a true privilege to get to work alongside our talented team to bring faster, more reliable internet to millions of people who don’t have it today.”
Brightspeed also announced that Manny Sampedro, a long-time telecommunications veteran, will join the organisation as the company’s new COO. A long-time telecom executive, Manny joins Brightspeed from Verizon, where he most recently served as SVP, business transformation. Throughout his more than 25-year career, he held executive positions with P&L responsibility across both wireline and wireless businesses prior to transitioning to strategy, integration and transformation roles.
“I’ve been watching Brightspeed’s transition from a concept to a company over the last year and I’m excited to have the opportunity to support and contribute to the company’s long-term vision,” says Sampedro. “It’s clear this team has the talent, expertise and drive to deliver a great experience for our customers and I look forward to building on the strong foundation laid by Tom, Chris and Bob.”
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