AT&T vs Hitachi: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: AT&T and Hitachi 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. 1910Hitachi

   Founding and First Induction Motor

   Namihei Odaira establishes the machinery repair shop that becomes Hitachi, and develops Japan's first 5-horsepower induction motor, establishing the foundation for the company's dominance in electrical engineering.

3. 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.

4. 1925AT&T

   Bell Telephone Laboratories Founded

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

5. 1932Hitachi

   Expansion into Railway Technology

   Hitachi begins manufacturing electric locomotives and rail signaling systems, establishing a deep, institutionalized relationship with the Japanese national railway network that would evolve into the modern Hitachi Rail division.

6. 1959Hitachi

   Entry into Computing and Electronics

   Hitachi develops its first electronic computer, the HITAC, marking the company's strategic entry into the information technology sector and laying the groundwork for its future digital systems business.

7. 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…

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 2016Hitachi

    Toshiaki Higashihara becomes CEO

    Toshiaki Higashihara became CEO of Hitachi in 2016. Shifted Hitachi from a sprawling conglomerate toward infrastructure and digital businesses.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 2020Hitachi

    Acquisition of ABB's Power Grids Business

    Hitachi executes the $11 billion acquisition of ABB's Power Grids business, renaming it Hitachi Energy and instantly establishing the company as the global leader in HVDC transmission and grid infrastructure.

15. 2021Hitachi

    Acquisition of GlobalLogic

    The company acquires the global digital engineering firm GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion, instantly establishing Hitachi as a top-tier provider of advanced software and product design services for the automotive and telecommunications sectors.

16. 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.

17. 2022Hitachi

    Hitachi Construction Machinery Stake Sale

    Hitachi sold a controlling stake in Hitachi Construction Machinery to Itochu and Japan Industrial Partners, part of its exit from cyclical listed subsidiaries.

18. 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.

19. 2024Hitachi

    Acquired Thales Ground Transportation Systems

    Hitachi acquired Thales Ground Transportation Systems. Hitachi Rail completed its ~$1.88 billion (EUR 1.66 billion) acquisition of Thales's Ground Transportation Systems business, its rail signalling division, expanding Hitachi Rail to 51 countries and shiftin…

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 2025Hitachi

    Toshiaki Tokunaga Becomes CEO

    Toshiaki Tokunaga became President and CEO on April 1, 2025, succeeding Keiji Kojima, who became Executive Chairman.

23. 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.

24. 2026Hitachi

    Record Results and Home Appliance Sale

    Hitachi reported record FY2025 profit in April 2026 and agreed to sell 80.1% of its home appliance business to Nojima for about $737 million (¥110 billion).

Acquisitions

Questions about AT&T vs Hitachi