When AT&T announced executive changes earlier this week, one key member of the management team was not mentioned. Employees, suppliers and customers waited to learn the fate of Glenn Lurie, the popular president of AT&T Mobility, whose division is expected to relocate from Atlanta to Dallas in order to be closer to AT&T’s global headquarters.
If and when that move happens, Lurie will not be going. AT&T reportedly announced his upcoming departure in an email dated August 1, the same day its other executive changes took effect. The company said Lurie will retire, although the 51-year-old former professional soccer player is likely to have lots of other options.
Lurie held a series of positions at AT&T, and once said he had enjoyed the privilege of building three successful businesses within the company. Before taking charge at AT&T Mobility, Lurie managed AT&T’s prepaid brands and built the carrier’s internet of things business, which was previously called the emerging devices unit. Prior to that, Lurie was part of Cingular Wireless, a joint venture formed by BellSouth and SBC, the “Baby Bell” that bought AT&T in 2005 and adopted the AT&T name. AT&T Wireless operated under the Cingular name for three years.
In 2007, Cingular changed its name back to AT&T, and Apple introduced the first iPhone. Lurie was AT&T Mobility’s president of national distribution, and he negotiated the deal that made his company the only carrier to offer the iPhone for several years.
Lurie delivered the opening day keynote address at last year’s Super Mobility Show, and his remarks underscored his experience with connected devices beyond smartphones and tablets. He predicted that “everything with a current running through it will be connected,” and hinted at AT&T’s desire to dominate user interactions with connected devices. Lurie said that while most smartphone users rely on a number of applications today, he foresees a future in which just one app will manage everything.
Follow me on Twitter.
