Crown Castle Inc.
Leadership History
5 leaders · 2008 to present
Christian H. Hillabrant is the CEO of Crown Castle, in the role since 2025. The first chief executive was W. Benjamin Moreland, from 2008.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian H. Hillabrant | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Daniel K. Schlanger | Interim President and CEO | 2025 | 2025 | < 1 |
| Steven J. Moskowitz | President and Chief Executive Officer | 2024 | 2025 | 1 |
| Jay A. Brown | Chief Executive Officer | 2016 | 2024 | 8 |
| W. Benjamin Moreland | Chief Executive Officer | 2008 | 2016 | 8 |
Crown Castle does not sell phone service. It owns the towers that carriers rent to deliver it. Based in Houston and listed on the NYSE as CCI, the company spent 2015 to 2025 building a large fiber and small-cell network alongside its towers, then reversed course under pressure from investors and sold those businesses for $8.5 billion. Today it is a U.S. tower landlord with more than 40,000 sites, about 1,250 employees, and a market value near $28B in late September 2026. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Hillabrant was hired to aggressively optimize the operations of the massive, highly capital-intensive fiber division amid intense pressure from activist investors (Elliott Management) demanding its sale.
As COO, he manages the incredibly complex physical infrastructure of over 40,000 towers and 85,000 miles of fiber across the United States.
Interim President and CEO
2025 – 2025
0 years
Schlanger navigated the severe financial pressure caused by rapidly rising interest rates, slashing the company's massive dividend to protect the balance sheet and maintain its investment-grade credit rating.
As CFO, he manages the incredibly complex debt structures required to operate a massive Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in a high-interest-rate environment.
President and Chief Executive Officer
2024 – 2025
1 year
Moskowitz was appointed CEO in 2024 explicitly to appease activist investor Elliott Management, tasked with executing a massive strategic review and potential sale of the underperforming fiber business.
As CEO, he attempts to refocus the entire company exclusively on its highly profitable, legacy cell tower business after years of catastrophic capital misallocation.
Chief Executive Officer
2016 – 2024
8 years
Brown stubbornly defended the company's massive, multi-billion dollar investments in small-cell fiber networks against furious activist investors who correctly argued the strategy was destroying shareholder value.
He was abruptly forced to resign as CEO in late 2023 following a massive proxy fight launched by Elliott Management, ending a two-decade career at the company.
Chief Executive Officer
2008 – 2016
8 years
Moreland orchestrated the massive structural conversion of Crown Castle into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in 2014, securing highly favorable tax treatment and driving massive dividend growth.
Serving as CEO from 2008 to 2016, he led the company's aggressive acquisition of massive tower portfolios from AT&T and T-Mobile.
Revenue is shrinking in the near term: DISH Wireless stopped honoring its tower lease commitments after EchoStar sold spectrum in 2025, Sprint-related churn from the T-Mobile merger is still running off, and the FY2026 outlook calls for site rental revenue about 5% below 2025. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon produced 89% of FY2025 consolidated revenue, so any carrier capex pullback or consolidation hits directly.
Christian Hillabrant, President and CEO since September 15, 2025. He previously led Vantage Towers.
Dan Schlanger served as interim CEO from March to September 2025, after Steven Moskowitz, who was CEO from April 2024 to March 2025.
From 2016 until his retirement in early 2024, after earlier serving as CFO. He led the company's fiber acquisitions.
W. Benjamin Moreland was CEO from 2008 to 2016, covering the T-Mobile and AT&T tower deals and the 2014 REIT conversion.
Ted B. Miller Jr. founded the company in 1994 and led it in its early years. In 2024 he ran an unsuccessful proxy contest against the board.
Compare executive leadership tenures and strategic transitions
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