Career
Stephenson replaced Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc. in 2007. He was senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, which he joined in 1982. He was elected as a director of AT&T Inc. in June 2005. He also serves as a director of AT&T Mobility and Emerson Electric Co. He holds a B.S. from the University of Central Oklahoma and an MBA from the University of Oklahoma. Stephenson is also a current member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2009, Stephenson's compensation as CEO of AT&T totaled $20,240,457, including a base salary of $1,450,000, a cash bonus of $5,850,000, options grants worth $75,834, stock grants worth $11,999,991, and other compensation totaling $864,632. In 2010, compensation totaled $20.2 million, a sum that was unchanged from the previous year which equated to a 6 percent increase over 2009. His cash incentive payment totaled $5.05 million, down 14 percent from the year before. Most of his 2010 compensation was in the form of options and performance-based stock