AT&T vs ICICI Bank: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: AT&T and ICICI Bank 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. 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.

3. 1925AT&T

   Bell Telephone Laboratories Founded

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

4. 1955ICICI Bank

   ICICI Founded as Development-Finance Institution

   ICICI was formed to provide medium- and long-term project finance to Indian businesses.

5. 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…

6. 1994ICICI Bank

   ICICI Bank Incorporated

   ICICI Bank was incorporated as part of the ICICI group during India's post-liberalization banking opening. The move gave ICICI a deposit-taking commercial bank able to serve retail, corporate, and transaction-banking customers.

7. 1999ICICI Bank

   NYSE Listing Milestone

   ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing expanded global visibility and imposed a higher disclosure profile on the group.

8. 2001ICICI Bank

   Bank of Madura Amalgamation

   Bank of Madura was amalgamated with ICICI Bank with effect from March 10, 2001. The deal added branches, customers, and a southern India presence that helped the young bank build distribution faster than organic expansion alone.

9. 2002ICICI Bank

   Reverse Merger Created Universal Bank

   ICICI, ICICI Personal Financial Services, and ICICI Capital Services merged into ICICI Bank.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 2010ICICI Bank

    Bank of Rajasthan Merger

    The Bank of Rajasthan merger strengthened ICICI Bank's branch network, especially in northern and western India. The transaction mattered because local branches and deposits still supported private-bank scale even as digital channels were growing.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 2018ICICI Bank

    Sandeep Bakhshi Became MD and CEO

    Sandeep Bakhshi became Managing Director and CEO in October 2018 after Chanda Kochhar requested early retirement. His tenure has been associated with a sharper focus on risk controls, asset quality, governance, and steady retail-led growth.

16. 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.

17. 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.

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. 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.

20. 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.

21. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Balance Sheet Scale

    The FY2025 integrated report listed Rs 16,103.48B in deposits, Rs 13,417.66B in loans and advances, Rs 21,182.40B in standalone total assets, and a 16.55% capital adequacy ratio.

22. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Profitability

    ICICI Bank reported Rs 472.27B in standalone profit after tax and Rs 510.29B in consolidated profit after tax for FY2025. Profitability matters because the bank has to fund technology, compliance, provisions, and growth while keeping capital strong.

23. 2025ICICI Bank

    IMobile and Card Scale

    IMobile processed 558M transactions worth Rs 11,238B in FY2025, and the bank had close to 18M active credit cards at March 31, 2025.

24. 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.

25. 2026ICICI Bank

    Q1 FY2027 Profit Up 15.9%

    Standalone profit rose 15.9% to Rs 14,805 crore for April-June 2026, with net interest income up 12.7% and net NPAs at 0.35%.

26. 2026ICICI Bank

    Bakhshi Reappointed to 2028

    The RBI approved Sandeep Bakhshi's reappointment as MD and CEO for two years from October 4, 2026.

27. 2026ICICI Bank

    FY2026 Profit Crosses Rs 50,000 Crore

    Standalone net profit rose 6.2% to Rs 50,146.6 crore in FY2026, with a 4.32% net interest margin and 15.8% loan growth.

Acquisitions

Questions about AT&T vs ICICI Bank