Daniel R. Hesse (born c. 1953) is the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

Sprint Corporation Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The ...

. Hesse's tenure at Sprint focused on improved customer service, and he served as the spokesperson in Sprint's "Simply Everything" commercials. In January 2016, Hesse joined the board of directors for PNC Financial Services where he chairs the Technology Subcommittee. He was elected to the board of directors for

Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. is an American content delivery networkJ. Dilley, B. Maggs, J. Parikh, H. Prokop, R. Sitaraman, and B. Weihl. (CDN), cybersecurity, and cloud service company, providing web and Internet security services. Akamai's Inte ...

in August 2016 and named as Chairman in June 2021. On October 20, 2022, Hesse was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his contributions to the wireless industry and efforts in sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Early life and education

Hesse's father was a career army officer. As a result, Hesse attended 8 different schools between first grade in Italy and graduating from

Stuttgart American High School Stuttgart American High School in West Germany was first located at Robinson Barracks (old SA (SturmAbteilung) barracks), north of Stuttgart, from fall 1953 to spring 1955. That fall, the school moved a few miles northeast and opened at Pa ...

in Germany. He received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

in government and international studies in 1975, an MBA from the

Johnson Graduate School of Management The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management is the Graduate school, graduate business school in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, a private university, private Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New Yor ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in 1977, and Master's of Science from the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

as a Sloan Fellow in 1989.

In Telecommunications

AT&T

Hesse spent 23 years at

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

where he started out as an intern. From 1991 to 1995, he was president and CEO of AT&T Network Systems International based in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He launched the online division's AT&T Worldnet service in February 1996, which introduced unlimited internet dial up for $20/month for subscribers to AT&T's long-distance services. In May 1997, he became chief executive officer of

AT&T Wireless AT&T Mobility LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and Trade name, marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, AT&T Inc. and provides wireless services in the United States. AT&T Mobi ...

. In 1998, Hesse oversaw the launch of AT&T's Digital One Rate. During this time, Hesse was named 1998's Wireless Industry Person of the Year RCR Magazine.

Terabeam Corporation

From March 2000 to June 2004, Hesse served as CEO and chairman of Terabeam Corporation.

Embarq Corporation

In June 2005, Hesse joined Sprint and oversaw the spinoff of its landline division into a separate public company–

Embarq Corporation Embarq Corporation (stylized as EMBARQ) was the largest independent local exchange carrier in the United States (below the Baby Bells), serving customers in 18 states and providing local, long-distance, high-speed data and wireless services to ...

. Hesse served as the President and CEO of Embarq from May 2006 until December 2007.

Sprint

Hesse was named CEO of Sprint Nextel on December 17, 2007. During his tenure, Hesse appeared in ten television commercials for the company. The black and white ads, created by

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (also known as GSP) is an advertising agency based in San Francisco. History The agency was founded on April 15, 1983 as Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein by Jeff Goodby, Andy Berlin and Rich Silverstein. Andy Berlin le ...

, were filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Hesse joined Sprint as the company was losing customers following the merger with Nextel. His strategy to stem further losses included improved customer service, an increased emphasis on prepaid cell phones, a deal with

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

to sell iPhones, and a 4G presence investment/ownership stake in

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMAX ...

-provider

Clearwire Clearwire Corporation (stylized as clearw˙re) was a telecommunications operator which provided mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States, Belgium, Ireland and Spain. Clearw ...

. He also added retail stores across the nation in an attempt for increased in-person customer service. During Hesse's tenure, Sprint went from last place to first in the wireless industry in customer satisfaction according to

JD Power J.D. Power is an American consumer research, data, and analytics firm based in Troy, Michigan. The company was founded in 1968 by James David Power III. It conducts surveys of customer satisfaction, product quality, and buyer behavior for the aut ...

and the

American Customer Satisfaction Index The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is an economic indicator that measures the satisfaction of consumers across the U.S. economy. It is produced by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI LLC) based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The A ...

(ACSI). During this period, Sprint was recognized 20 times for excellence in customer service by JD Power. In 2014, the ACSI recognized Sprint as the most improved US company in customer satisfaction over the previous six years among all 43 industries studied. During his last two full calendar years as CEO, Sprint's total shareholder return ranked #1 among all S&P 500 companies. Corporate Responsibility Magazine recognized Hesse with the Corporate Responsibility Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Hesse was also named a Top Rated CEO on Glassdoor and one of five "Best Turnaround CEOs of All Time" by

Fierce Wireless MidOcean Partners is a New York-based alternative asset management firm that specializes in mid-sized private equity and alternative leveraged investments. The firm, founded in February 2003, is based in Midtown Manhattan. MidOcean was origina ...

." The

American India Foundation The American India Foundation (AIF, founded 2001) is a nonprofit American organization working in India. It is one of the largest secular, non-partisan American organizations supporting development work in India. AIF is committed to improving the ...

honored Hesse for Excellence in Corporate Leadership and Philanthropy in 2014. Hesse led the acquisition of 80 percent of Sprint by

Softbank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...

in July 2013 and remained for a year to complete the transition. On August 6, 2014 Sprint announced that Hesse would be succeeded by

Marcelo Claure Raul Marcelo Claure Bedoya is a Bolivian technology entrepreneur, businessman, and investor. Until early 2022 he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of SoftBank Group International and chief operating officer (COO) of SoftBank Group Corporati ...

, founder of

Brightstar Corporation Likewize (formerly Brightstar Corp.) is an American privately held corporation founded in 1997. It provides global wireless distribution and services, serving mobile device manufacturers, wireless operators and retailers. Likewize offers device and ...

Outside Telecommunications

Hesse currently serves on the boards of directors for the following organizations: * The National Board of Governors of the

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, h ...

* The JUST Capital Foundation * PNC Financial Services, where Hesse chairs the Technology Subcommittee *

, Chairman, board member

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hesse, Dan 1953 births University of Notre Dame alumni Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni MIT Sloan Fellows AT&T people Sprint Corporation people Lumen Technologies American technology chief executives Living people American telecommunications industry businesspeople