John Legere is the charismatic, unconventional CEO of T-Mobile who announced on Monday that he was stepping down from his position at the company.
Legere will reportedly step down next year and will be succeeded by T-Mobile President and COO Mike Sievert on May 1, 2020, the company announced on Monday. The announcement isn’t a huge surprise as Legere was expected to step down once the Sprint/T-Mobile merger was complete.
The switch from Legere to Sievert is the culmination of a “multi-year succession planning process led by John Legere and the Board of Directors,” T-Mobile said in a statement. Legere will remain as a member of the board after he vacates the CEO position.
Legere announced his decision on Twitter, praising Sievert and saying that “this move has been under development for a long time.” He told The Verge that he has “no plans” to retire and has a contract with T-mobile preventing him from going to direct competitors. Though Legere wouldn’t work for them anyway, “It can’t be companies I hate, which eliminates Verizon and AT&T from the list,” Legere said.
Legere is credited with transforming the wireless company since he took the reins as CEO in 2012. He’s responsible for bringing the iPhone to T-Mobile for the first time, offering wireless service without long contracts, and leading the company’s recent merger with Sprint.
The T=Mobile CEO was rumored to be the next in line for the WeWork CEO position after Adam Neuman was ousted from the position. Legere aggressively denied these rumors and said he had “no plans” to leave T-Mobile. “I want to be clear, I was never having discussions to run WeWork,” Legere said on a call discussing the news, according to The Verge.
John Legere currently lives in New York City and has two daughters, Elizabeth and Christina.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He’s Been Married and Divorced Twice
Mother daughter reunion #momentoftheweek #family http://t.co/Rh5bNlTzcc
John Legere has been married and divorced twice and has been single since at least 2014. He tweeted in 2014 that his daughters wanted him to get back into the dating scene.
Screenshot of John Legere’s Tweet.
Legere is reluctant to share details about his first and second wife so their names are currently unknown. One of his wives appeared in a photo on Christina Legere’s Twitter account back in 2013 captioned with “mother daughter reunion”.
2. John Legere Is Close with His Daughters
John Legere lives right down the street from his daughters in New York City and the three appear to be very close. He posts photos on Instagram showing him running around the city with Elizabeth or taking Christina as his date to a wedding.
Christina and Elizabeth are equally loving on their public social media pages. Christina posted a touching tribute to her dad in June for his birthday. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HERO MENTOR AND BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!!!” She wrote, “I have gotten the pleasure of seeing from afar him working his ass off my whole life I’m so proud to be his daughter but even more proud of him and his accomplishments.”
Elizabeth is more private with her social media profile but still has a few photos with her dad on Facebook attending a T-Mobile event.
3. Christina and Elizabeth Legere Work in the Art Industry
New phone case design available on my Etsy
t.co/oZDNgt8mXp I like to call it the Emotional Monsters #phonecase #colorfulart #techaccesories
Christina and Elizabeth Legere both work in the art industry in New York City. Christina is an artist and owner of Christina’s Cutecore Creations according to her LinkedIn. She designs and sells paintings and phone cases and other pieces of art on Etsy and promotes them on her Twitter account.
Elizabeth Legere attended CUNY Hunter College in New York City and currently works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to her Facebook page. She wrote her Master’s thesis on “The Possibilities of the Video Game Exhibition” which was an “examination of video games as an artistic medium, and of their current presentation in art museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”
4. John’s Sister Is Disappointed That He’s a Yankees Fan
🆓⚾️🎟🎟, anyone? #MLBPostseason is heating up! Head to my Instagram for a chance to win #ALCS tickets! #JohnHasFreeTickets t.co/8FR7ruSKUX
John Legere is a Massachusetts native through and through. He attended St. Bernard’s Central Catholic School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, got his Accounting BBA from the University of Massachusetts, then got an MS from MIT and MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Despite his Boston roots, he became a New York Yankees fan. According to his sister Nancy Ginnity who lives in Fitchburg, MA, his family is very disappointed in his decision.
Ginnity told the Sentinal & Enterprise that Legere chose the Yankees because “he’s just trying to fit in” in New York and still thinks “he’s a true Red Sox fan.”
She’s able to rise above their baseball differences and is very proud of her brother’s success. “I know it’s never been real easy for him,” she told the Sentinel & Enterprise. “People think you just suddenly because this rich and famous person, but he’s worked hard and sacrificed a lot. Nothing’s been given to him.”
5. His Daughters Love Video Games and Nerd Culture
My beautiful genius sis @BlizzCon http://t.co/vglMidzVKt
Christina and Elizabeth are big fans of video games and nerd culture. They both attended the annual convention, which showcases the latest and greatest in video games from Blizzard Entertainment, in 2013. Elizabeth posted a photo of the two at the event.
Christina went back in 2016 and posted a photo with her boyfriend under the Overwatch logo from the event.
Christina appears to be the nerdier one of the two as she has a photo with Valve founder and CEO Gabe Newell and from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiere.
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