When Kellyn Smith Kenny joined AT&T as CMO in November 2020, she joined a company whose identity was about to change dramatically.
AT&T had spent years expanding into entertainment, including its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, and owned satellite television provider DirecTV. By the time Kenny arrived, that strategy was giving way to a retrenchment that would return AT&T’s focus to its telecommunications business. The company would separate DirecTV and eventually spin off WarnerMedia, while directing more capital toward 5G and fiber and reducing debt.
