Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) announced Monday that it had terminated current President and CEO Steven Moskowitz. The announcement caught many in the tower business by surprise. Individuals contacted by Inside Towers were reluctant to comment. The company said that, effective immediately, the Board of Directors had appointed Dan Schlanger, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as interim Chief Executive Officer replacing Moskowitz. At the same time, the board said that it has initiated a search for a successor President and CEO and is in the process of retaining a leading executive search firm to assist in the process.
This announcement is the second CEO change for the company in less than a year. Moskowitz replaced Crown Castle’s former CEO Jay Brown on April 11, 2024, Inside Towers reported. The board confirmed that Moskowitz’s termination was not a result of any disagreement regarding Crown Castle’s policies or financial performance and was not made for cause or related to any ethical or compliance concern.
“The Board determined that now is the right time to make this leadership transition to successfully complete the previously announced sale of the Company’s small cells and fiber solutions businesses and transform the company into a pure-play U.S. tower business,” comments P. Robert Bartolo, Chair of the Crown Castle board of directors.
Schlanger will continue to serve as CFO until April 1, 2025, when Sunit Patel will assume the role of EVP and CFO, Inside Towers reported. Schlanger will serve as interim CEO until a successor CEO is identified and appointed, then the board intends to appoint him as Chief Transformation Officer, to oversee the completion of the Company’s non-tower asset sales which are expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Crown Castle reaffirmed its recently announced financial guidance, capital allocation policies and details regarding the sale of the fiber segment to EQT and Zayo.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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