Windstream named Paul H. Sunu has its new President and CEO, effective immediately, replacing Tony Thomas, who has decided to depart the Company and step down from the Board, following a distinguished 17 years at Windstream.
Mr. Sunu has served as Chairman of the Board since 2020 and will retain his position.
Mr. Sunu brings 27 years of telecom industry experience. During his tenure as CEO of FairPoint Communications, he helped improve service quality, develop an 18K-mile fiber network and served over 300 health care facilities and 1,600 fiber-to-the-tower connections, leading to a merger with Consolidated Communications. He was a co-founder of Madison River Communications, where he was instrumental in acquiring and integrating five RLEC operations, resulting in a merger with CenturyLink (now Lumen). He has served on numerous boards, including as Chairman and Vice Chairman of Electric Lightwave, where he helped guide the transformation of the company’s business model into a fiber-centric operation, resulting in a merger with Zayo.
“Over the past three years as Chairman, I have come to appreciate the caliber of the management team and the determination, dedication and talent within Windstream. I look forward to working with them to serve our customers with excellence as we continue to expand our fiber network,” said Mr. Sunu.
During Mr. Thomas’ tenure, Windstream acquired, merged and integrated several companies, successfully restructured under Chapter 11 and launched its fiber transformation. Mr. Thomas also held several leadership positions, including CFO of Windstream.
“I am proud of what we have achieved at Windstream,” said Mr. Thomas. “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.
