Who Is Srini Gopalan, T-Mobile’s New CEO?

T-Mobile US has announced that Srini Gopalan will be the company's new CEO, driving its strategic initiatives in 5G and next-gen mobile network lead in the US market.

Srini, who is current Chief Operating Officer (COO), will takeover from Mike Sievert on 1 November, spearheading the company’s overarching vision to become the most data-driven, AI-enabled, digital-first company in the industry, bringing exceptional experiences to UN-carrier customers and advancing the company’s leadership.

Mike has been appointed to Vice Chairman, a newly created management role where he will support T-Mobile’s CEO and leadership team, advising on long-term strategy, innovation, talent development and external relations.

Srini’s appointment is consistent with the board’s succession planning process of continuing T-Mobile’s growth strategy and the next era of Un-carrier leadership - the telco giant’s customer focused approach with long-term contracts and customer lock-ins to deliver great value, simplicity and fairness to customers.

Revealing the new appointment, Mike says: “I couldn’t be more excited to announce Srini Gopalan as our next CEO. When I recruited Srini to be our COO, I knew he had the skills, experience and Un-carrier mindset to lead our company into the future.

“Srini has been an incredible partner in shaping the future of T-Mobile as well as instrumental in leading our record growth this year and driving initiatives to serve customers in new ways and win them for life.

“One fact has become crystal clear: Srini is ready to lead.”

Who is the new CEO?

In his role as COO, Srini has worked alongside Mike and the leadership team to complete acquisitions that bring new 5G and fiber network access to communities across the country.

He has led the entirety of the company’s Technology, Consumer and Business groups, setting the stage for new growth in adjacent markets with the singular focus of solving customer pain points.

The role isn’t Srini’s first experience with exec responsibilities. Prior to T-Mobile, he successfully held the role of CEO of Deutsche Telekom’s German business, where he doubled the company’s growth rate, scaled its fiber business to millions of homes and achieved record mobile market share while earning market-leading customer satisfaction scores.

Tim Höttges, Deutsche Telekom CEO and Chairman of the Board of T-Mobile US, says: “I’ve had the privilege of working directly with Srini, and I’ve seen first-hand his proven ability to turn vision into reality. 

“He has the determination, expertise, passion and empathy to be a fantastic CEO for the most innovative company in the industry.”

In response to his new position Srini says: “I am honoured and grateful for the trust Mike and the Board have placed in me, and for the opportunity to lead T-Mobile’s next chapter.

“Mike has done a phenomenal job transforming T-Mobile into the world’s most successful telecom and a disruptive innovator for customers. By almost every possible metric, T-Mobile is better, stronger, faster today than when Mike took the helm nearly six years ago.

“I am also thankful for Mike’s partnership and mentorship and am committed to building on his legacy of putting customers first - while disrupting the industry - as we continue to scale our winning Un-carrier strategy.”

T-Mobile’s success

Over the past five years, the telecom sector has undergone major changes, with companies joining forces to strengthen their market positions. 

A standout example is T-Mobile US’ US$26bn merger with Sprint in 2020, a move that refined the competitive landscape in the US through more efficient operations and greater investment in infrastructure like 5G. This placed T-Mobile in the top three US telecom companies.

During Mike’s leadership, T-Mobile became the first and only company to lead in both the US wireless and broadband growth, gaining tens of  millions of customers at an unmatched rate and adding more than US$200bn in market cap - becoming the world’s most valuable telecommunications company.

Srini is expected to continue this success as Mike says: “He is highly skilled, passionate and incredibly knowledgeable, and above all he is obsessed with taking our employee and customer experience to the next level.

“I have full trust and confidence in his vision for T-Mobile, and the Un-carrier’s ability to innovate to an even greater extent under his leadership.”