Steve Dodge, founder of American Tower Corp., announced he will retire as chairman of the board.
Dodge said he intends to retire officially sometime before American Tower’s annual meeting of stockholders, scheduled to take place during the second quarter. Following retirement, he plans to continue to serve as a part-time employee on terms yet to be agreed upon.
“At this stage, the shadow of a founding chairman serves no productive purpose … this very talented group will find it energizing to have its own space, with complete accountability for its own results,” said Dodge. “Surely, they have earned that opportunity, and as a large stakeholder in the company-both now and going forward-I look forward to benefiting from their ongoing efforts.”
Dodge founded and served as chief executive officer of American Tower’s parent company, American Radio Systems Corp., prior to founding American Tower in 1995. A graduate of Yale University, Dodge currently also serves on the boards of directors of Nextel Partners Inc., Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. and Sensitech, and he is a trustee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Dodge relinquished the role of CEO of American Tower to Jim Taiclet last October. Taiclet had served as president and chief operating officer of the company since September 2001, when he was hired to eventually take on the CEO role. He also serves on the board of directors of FiberTower, a provider of microwave-based backhaul services for wireless carriers and is a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Security and Reliability Council.
Upon his retirement, Dodge and his affiliates will voluntarily convert all of their shares of Class B common stock, which is entitled to 10 votes per share, into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, which is entitled to one vote per share.
Dodge and his affiliates currently own about 1.24 million shares of Class A common stock and 5.75 million shares of Class B common stock, representing 21 percent of voting power. Following the conversion, Dodge and his affiliates will control less than 5 percent of voting power.
