Fifty-five-year-old Dan Hesse was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Kansas-based telecommunications company, Sprint Nextel, Dec. 18, 2007.
Prior to becoming Sprint Nextel’s chief, Dan Hesse had served as the chief executive officer and chairman of Embarq Corporation, a $6 billion company providing data, voice, entertainment and wireless services across 18 states.
Aside from Embarq Corporation, Dan Hesse had also served as the chairman and chief for Terabeam Corporation, a technology company providing wireless telecommunications services. He was able to hold that position for three years from 2000 to 2004.
Moreover, Hesse was also able to dedicate 23 years of his career to serve as the president and chief executive officer at AT&T Wireless Services. The wireless services provider was at that time the largest wireless carrier in the United States.
From 1997 up to 2000, Dan Hesse was able to launch AT&T’s international online initiatives. As the head of the Online Services Group, Dan Hesse was also able to launch AT&T’s Worldnet family of Internet services. From 1991 up until 1995, Hesse was the president and chief executive officer of AT&T Network Systems International, a joint-venture telecommunications company. Prior to his AT&T management duties, Dan Hesse was assigned to several Network Operations, Network Engineering, International Services, Strategic Planning, Human Resources, Product Management and Sales.
For his dynamic leadership, Dan Hesse received the recognition of many prestigious publications in the telecommunications and technology industry.
He was named as the Wireless Industry’s “Person of the Year” by the RCR magazine, “Most Influential Person in Mobile Technology” by LAPTOP Magazine, as well as “Executive of the Year” by the Wireless Business and Technology magazine. In addition to those, Dan Hesse was also able to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor as well as Wireless Week magazine’s Leadership Award.