who owns verizon wireless

Verizon Wireless (now branded simply as Verizon for its wireless services) is owned by Verizon Communications Inc. , a publicly traded U.S. telecommunications company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker VZ.

Who “owns” Verizon Wireless today?

• The wireless business is not a separate company anymore; it is a core division of Verizon Communications Inc., headquartered in New York.

• Verizon Communications became the sole owner of Verizon Wireless in 2014 when it bought out Vodafone’s 45% stake, ending the former joint venture structure.

Major shareholders and control

• Ownership of Verizon Communications Inc. is spread across millions of shareholders, including large institutional investors and individual (retail) investors.

• The largest shareholders are major asset managers such as The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, each holding significant percentages of Verizon’s outstanding shares through index funds and ETFs.

Quick history of Verizon Wireless ownership

• Verizon Wireless began in 2000 as a joint venture between Bell Atlantic (which became Verizon Communications) and Vodafone, with Verizon holding 55% and Vodafone 45%.

• In a landmark deal completed in 2014, Verizon bought Vodafone’s 45% stake for over 100 billion dollars, making Verizon Communications the 100% owner of the wireless business.

Today’s practical answer

• From a corporate standpoint, Verizon Communications Inc. owns and operates the Verizon wireless network and brand.

• From a stock-market standpoint, Verizon is owned collectively by its shareholders, with big institutional investors holding the largest slices but no single individual “owner” controlling the whole company.

TL;DR

• Legal/corporate owner: Verizon Communications Inc. (ticker: VZ).

• Economic owners: a mix of institutional investors (Vanguard, BlackRock, others) and everyday investors who hold Verizon stock.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.