Who bought out AT&T?
Originally founded in the late 1800s, AT&T Internet has a lengthy history and was once the largest telecom company worldwide. It originated when Alexander Graham Bell established the Bell Telephone Company after a phone patent purchase. Originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, AT&T expanded over the following decades by mergers and acquisitions, becoming a telecommunications monopoly.
Under an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, AT&T was sold by the courts into smaller companies in 1982. Seven new regional "Baby Bell" phone companies—some of which include Ameritech, BellSouth, and Pacific Bell—resulted from this. Only long-distance services and phone equipment manufacturing units remained for AT&T.
Over the 1990s and 2000s, the Baby Bell businesses kept merging and consolidating in the communications sector. Purchasing the original AT&T Corp. in 2005, SBC Communications Inc. took the moniker AT&T. One of AT&T's previous offspring firms bought the AT&T name and brand in an odd but interesting way. Other Baby Bells like Ameritech and Pacific Bell were already under purchase by SBC.
Under its CEO, Randall Stephenson, the "new" AT&T then embarked on an expansion frenzy purchasing behemoths such as BellSouth in 2006, DirecTV in 2015, and Time Warner in 2018. At last, amid the run of mergers and acquisitions, AT&T expanded once more to rank as the biggest telecoms firm in the US.
So to summarize who bought out AT&T?
- This followed a decision by the U.S. government to break up AT&T’s monopoly in 1982. This led to the formation of the seven ‘Baby Bell’ regional telephone companies and a separate AT&T long-distance operation.
- The Baby Bell companies eventually engaged in mergers and acquisitions to consolidate themselves.
- In 2005, SBC Communications acquired AT&T Corp SBC adopted the better-known AT&T name and image.
- Before this merger, SBC had merged with other Baby Bells such as Ameritech and Pacific Bell.
- AT&T under new ownership and name, gained more other businesses over the following decades. These include BellSouth, DirecTV, and Time Warner.
So while technically originally one of the spun-off Baby Bells that acquired the AT&T brand and identity it was more of a marriage between the largest telecoms and descendants of Ma Bell which refers to Bell Telephone company since 1899. In due course, the AT&T name emerged as the sole survivor, which, in effect, was a restructuring of the telephone monopoly that dominated the industry for much of the 1900s. AT&T, as we know it today, has put back together many pieces that tried to break it apart in 1982.
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