STEVE VONDRAN (left) to succeed retiring American Tower Corporation President and CEO Tom Bartlett. Eugene Noel has been appointed as the EVP and President, U.S. Tower Division.
American Tower Corporation has announced that Tom Bartlett will retire as President, Chief Executive Officer, and director of the Board of Directors, effective February 1, 2024.
The company said in a statement that its Board of Directors, having undertaken a deliberate and thorough succession planning process over the last several years, has named Steve Vondran to succeed Bartlett as President and Chief Executive Officer. At that time, Vondran will also be appointed as a director of the Board. To facilitate the transition, the Board appointed Vondran as Executive Vice President and Global Chief Operating Officer for the interim period, effective November 1, 2023, until February 1, 2024.
Vondran has served as American Tower’s Executive Vice President and President of the U.S. Tower Division, which includes the U.S. data center business, since August 2018 and has held various leadership positions since joining the company in 2000, including Senior Vice President, General Counsel for the U.S. Tower Division, from 2010 to 2018.
During Vondran’s tenure and leadership, American Tower’s U.S. and Canada business has grown into a market leader, with a portfolio of nearly 43,000 sites and a highly interconnected data center platform across 10 U.S. markets. As of the year-end 2022, the U.S. and Canadian businesses, including data centers, generated nearly $5.8 billion in property revenue, an increase of approximately 270% since 2010.
Eugene (“Bud”) Noel, the company’s current Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Tower Division, will become the new Executive Vice President and President of the U.S. Tower Division, effective November 1, 2023. Noel has been with the company since 2011 and has over 25 years of experience in wireless real estate development and operations, including leadership positions held at Sprint Nextel and LightSquared before joining American Tower.
Bartlett joined American Tower in 2009 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and became its Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Board in 2020. During his tenure with the Company, American Tower launched operations in over 20 markets, achieved investment-grade credit status with each of the three major rating agencies, successfully converted into a real estate investment trust (REIT), and delivered cumulative total shareholder returns exceeding 500%.
During Bartlett’s service as Chief Executive Officer, the company strategically built scale across its European business by acquiring Telxius Towers and advanced its data center platform and edge strategy by acquiring CoreSite Realty Corporation. Over the same period, American Tower meaningfully went its sustainability program by expanding its Digital Communities program to nearly 500 locations, investing in innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions on a path to achieve the company’s science-based targets, and fostering an inclusive, equitable and diverse global community, both within American Tower and in the communities it serves.
Vondran stated, “I am incredibly honored for the privilege of leading our company and its talented employees, and I look forward to extending our long track record of growth and success as we embark on an exciting time for American Tower. Supported through Tom’s vision and execution, our global portfolio of communications assets has us well positioned to drive sustained growth and shareholder returns as the networks of the future evolve in support of insatiable data consumption and low latency performance demand. I want to thank Tom for his leadership of our company and the close partnership we have formed for well over a decade, and wish him all the best in retirement.”