Windstream Holdings of Little Rock on Monday announced a new president and CEO, Paul H. Sunu, who takes over effective immediately.
Sunu succeeds Tony Thomas, who the privately held telecommunications company said “has decided to depart the company and step down from the board, following a distinguished 17 years at Windstream.”
During Thomas’ tenure, Windstream acquired, merged and integrated several companies and restructured under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He also held several leadership positions, including chief financial officer.
“I am proud of what we have achieved at Windstream,” Thomas said in a news release. “I thank the board for their support and remain confident that the company is on the right course.”
Windstream is owned by Elliott Investment Management, OakTree Capital Management, PIMCO and other principal investors.
Sunu has been chairman of the Windstream board since 2020 and will retain that position, the company said. He previously served in leadership positions at companies including FairPoint Communications, where he was CEO; Electric Lightwave, where he was chairman and vice chairman of the board; Hargray Communications Group Inc.; Hawaiian Telcom Inc.; and Madison River Communications, which he co-founded.
Many of Sunu’s companies merged with others. FairPoint merged with Consolidated Communications. Madison River, which acquired and integrated five companies, merged with CenturyLink, now known as Lumen. Electric Lightwave merged with Zayo.
“Paul is especially well suited to step into the role of CEO — he has deeply relevant industry experience, he knows Windstream well, and he is a proven leader with a strong record of moving fast and delivering long-term value,” Elliott Portfolio Manager Johannes Weber said in a news release. “The board is fully aligned in its belief that now is the right time for Paul to take the reins and lead the company forward.
“We are grateful to Tony for his years of service to Windstream and wish him the best. We anticipate a seamless transition and are looking forward to Windstream’s next phase of growth.”
Thomas joined Windstream in 2006 as controller. From August 2009 through September 2014, he was CFO. He became CEO in December 2014. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest University and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois.
Windstream was spun off from Alltel Corp. of Little Rock in 2006. The then-publicly traded company filed for bankruptcy in February 2019 in response to a $310 million judgment won by bondholders in a dispute over its own spinoff in 2015 of Uniti Group Inc. into a separate publicly traded company, also based in Little Rock.
Windstream restructured and emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.
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