AT&T vs General Motors: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: AT&T and General Motors side by side

1. 1885AT&T

   AT&T Founded as the Bell System Long-Distance Arm

   American Telephone and Telegraph was incorporated in 1885 to build and operate long-distance telephone lines for the Bell system.

2. 1908General Motors

   General Motors Founded

   William C. Durant incorporates General Motors in Hudson, New Jersey, on September 16, 1908, with Buick Motor Company as its primary asset.

3. 1909General Motors

   Cadillac and Oldsmobile Acquired

   GM acquires Oldsmobile and the prestigious Cadillac Automobile Company, establishing the multi-brand architecture that will define GM's market segmentation strategy for decades.

4. 1913AT&T

   Kingsbury Commitment

   The Kingsbury Commitment settled a major antitrust threat. AT&T agreed to divest its Western Union holdings, connect independent telephone companies to its long-distance network and seek approval for further acquisitions.

5. 1923General Motors

   Alfred Sloan Becomes President

   Alfred P. Sloan takes the GM presidency and begins implementing the decentralized divisional management structure and market segmentation strategy that transforms GM into the world's most admired corporate organization.

6. 1925AT&T

   Bell Telephone Laboratories Founded

   AT&T and Western Electric consolidated their research into Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1925.

7. 1931General Motors

   GM Surpasses Ford as World's Largest Automaker

   General Motors overtakes Ford Motor Company as the world's largest automobile manufacturer by sales volume, a position it would hold for the majority of the next seven decades.

8. 1984AT&T

   Bell System Breakup Takes Effect

   Divestiture took effect on January 1, 1984 under the 1982 consent decree. AT&T gave up the local exchange operations that had produced most of its revenue, which became seven regional Bell operating companies, and kept long distance, Western Electric and Bell…

9. 1984General Motors

   Saturn Corporation Founded

   GM establishes Saturn as a separate subsidiary intended to compete with Japanese small cars through innovative labor relations, retail practices, and manufacturing processes.

10. 1996General Motors

    OnStar Connected Vehicle Service Launched

    GM introduces OnStar, the world's first embedded cellular connected vehicle service, offering emergency assistance, stolen vehicle tracking, and remote diagnostics.

11. 2005AT&T

    SBC Acquires AT&T Corporation and Takes the Name

    SBC Communications, one of the regional companies created by the 1984 breakup, acquired AT&T Corporation in 2005 for about $16 billion and adopted the AT&T name.

12. 2007AT&T

    Exclusive US iPhone Launch Carrier

    AT&T, then operating wireless under the Cingular brand, was the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple's first iPhone in 2007.

13. 2009General Motors

    Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Government Bailout

    General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2009, with $49.5 billion in U.S. Government assistance as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

14. 2010General Motors

    IPO Return to Public Markets

    General Motors returns to public markets through an initial public offering on November 18, 2010, raising approximately $23.1 billion - at the time one of the largest IPOs in U.S. History. The offering allows the U.S.

15. 2014General Motors

    Mary Barra Becomes CEO

    Mary Barra, a 33-year GM veteran with a background in engineering and manufacturing, becomes CEO on January 15, 2014, becoming the first female CEO of a major global automaker.

16. 2015AT&T

    DirecTV Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the DirecTV purchase on July 24, 2015 for $48.5 billion, about $67 billion including assumed debt, betting that satellite video would reinforce telecom relationships.

17. 2016General Motors

    Cruise Automation Acquired

    GM acquires Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle startup, for approximately $1 billion - at the time one of the largest acquisitions in GM's modern history.

18. 2018AT&T

    Time Warner Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the $85.4 billion Time Warner purchase on June 14, 2018, two days after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department challenge. The deal brought HBO, Warner Bros.

19. 2020AT&T

    John T. Stankey Becomes CEO

    John T. Stankey became chief executive on July 1, 2020, inheriting high debt, a media portfolio under pressure and a shifting broadband market.

20. 2021General Motors

    Ultium Platform and EV Commitment Announced

    GM announces its commitment to invest more than $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025 and introduces the Ultium battery platform as the technological foundation for dozens of future EV models across all four U.S. Brands.

21. 2022AT&T

    WarnerMedia Separated and Merged with Discovery

    AT&T separated WarnerMedia in April 2022 and combined it with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery, receiving cash and debt relief of about $40.4 billion.

22. 2023AT&T

    $14 Billion Open RAN Contract with Ericsson

    In December 2023 AT&T committed roughly $14 billion over five years to Ericsson to deploy commercial-scale open radio access network equipment, with a target of carrying 70% of its wireless traffic on open-capable platforms by late 2026.

23. 2024General Motors

    Cruise Robotaxi Program Ended

    Following the October 2023 Cruise pedestrian incident and a long operational pause, GM announced in December 2024 that it would stop funding Cruise's robotaxi business and fold the unit's technology work into GM.

24. 2025AT&T

    DIRECTV Exit Completed

    AT&T closed the sale of its entire remaining 70% DIRECTV stake to TPG on July 2, 2025, recording a $5.6 billion gain.

25. 2025AT&T

    Fiber Network Passes 30 Million Locations

    AT&T said in October 2025 that its fiber network had passed more than 30 million consumer and business locations, ahead of its own schedule, and finished the year at 32.0 million.

26. 2025General Motors

    EV Capacity Cut and $7.6 Billion in EV Charges

    After the U.S. federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, 2025, GM cut EV production capacity and recorded about $7.6 billion of EV-related charges for the year.

27. 2026AT&T

    Lumen Fiber and EchoStar Spectrum Deals Close

    AT&T completed two large network purchases in 2026. In February it closed the $5.75 billion acquisition of Lumen's mass markets fiber business, adding more than 1 million subscribers and more than 4 million fiber locations in eleven states.

28. 2026General Motors

    Guidance Raised as North America Margins Recover

    GM reported Q2 2026 revenue of $48.0 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $3.9 billion, with North America margins back in its 8-10% target range, and raised full-year 2026 EBIT-adjusted guidance to $14.0-16.0 billion.

Acquisitions

Questions about AT&T vs General Motors