Talk:Hans Vestberg

Company puffery removed

Daveburstein (talk) 11:01, 2 July 2016 (UTC) I discovered that someone put company material from Ericsson directly into his Wikipedia profile. I removed it and entered some neutral language. When I have time I'll come back and post some neutral material. He is actually one of the more able executives in the industry. (I've reported about him.)

From the company: https://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/corporate_governance/company_management/hans_vestberg Vestberg joined Ericsson in 1988. He has broad international experience, having held various management positions with Ericsson in China, Brazil, Mexico and the US. He is the international advisor to the Governor of Guangdong, China. …

He is a leading advocate of the global Sustainable Development Goals, and for the potential of mobility and broadband to help tackle some of the world’s most urgent challenges, such as poverty, climate change and access to health care and education. Vestberg is a founding member of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development , where he chairs the task group on the post-2015 development agenda, having previously chaired the Commission’s climate-change working group. Vestberg is a member of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Removing from Wikipedia: Vestberg joined Ericsson in 1988. He has broad international experience, having held various management positions for Ericsson in China, Brazil, Mexico and the US. He remains the international adviser to the Governor of Guangdong, China. …

He is a leading advocate of the Millennium Development Goals, and for the potential of mobility and broadband to tackle some of the world’s most compelling issues such as poverty, health, education and climate change. He is a founding member of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, where he chairs the task group on the post-2015 development agenda after having chaired the Commission’s climate-change working group. Vestberg is also a member of the Leadership Council of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This may have been an independent Wikipedia editor who lazily did a cut and paste or a company pr person. Dave Burstein

External links modified

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Updating Education and Career

Hi page watchers, I've worked up a draft to tidy up this article's Education and career section. Typically, I've seen Early life and education and Career as separate sections, and I think that might work best here. At the very least, this section needs general copy editing and citations for currently unsourced material. There is also unnecessary detail about outgoing Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam that better belongs at Lowell McAdam.

In addition to splitting this into two sections, adding citations, and general copy editing, I have added a sentence highlighting Hans Vestberg's work as Verizon's chief technology officer and executive vice president of its Network and Technology team.

You'll see my draft in my user space. Pinging Urbourbo and Whoisjohngalt, who are the most recent editors to edit this page. I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest so I ask others to look and make these edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 17:16, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

• Done. Whoisjohngalt (talk) 19:38, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

@Whoisjohngalt: Thank you, much appreciated! VZBob (talk) 21:33, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Sports and personal life

Hi page watchers, I've worked up a draft with suggested sections for Sports and Personal life. The Sports section is intended to replace the existing Engagements in sports section, and Personal life is intended to immediately follow that. You'll see my draft in my user space.

Both sections are short and simple. For Engagements in sports, I did a simple rewrite while shortening the title to Sports. Also, I removed the unsourced sentence on Mr. Vestberg training IFK Stocksund P02, and added a sentence about Mr. Vestberg having previously played semipro handball in Brazil, with citation.

I created a Personal life section mentioning Mr. Vestberg is married and has two children, and he is multilingual. This detail is sourced to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Note: References "Charlton14" and "Krouse18" are already used in the live article. However, I included the full citations in my draft so reviewing editors could see evaluate the references during review. Pinging Whoisjohngalt, who reviewed my last request. I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest so I ask others to look and make these edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 21:38, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

• This edit request has been completed. Whoisjohngalt (talk) 12:22, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

@Whoisjohngalt: Thank you again! VZBob (talk) 17:39, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Updated photo

Hi page watchers, there is a new photo of Hans Vestberg available at Wikimedia Commons. It is named File:Hans_Vestberg_2018.jpg. A permissions email has been sent to OTRS. Would editors consider replacing the infobox photo with this new one? I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest so I ask others to determine if this is appropriate. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 17:41, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Reply 21-JUL-2018

C Awaiting OTRS confirmation

Once the OTRS permission template is applied to this file, the picture can be added to the article. Once this has occurred please change the edit request template's answer parameter to read from yes to no.  spintendo  05:39, 21 July 2018 (UTC)

@Whoisjohngalt: Thank you! I have one more request following this. VZBob (talk) 21:44, 28 July 2018 (UTC)

Updating introduction, infobox and external links

Hi page watchers, I proposed updates to the introduction, infobox, and External links section that you'll see in my user space.

I slightly reworded the introduction to say Hans Vestberg is the incoming CEO, not "elected CEO". I made other copy edits to spell out executive vice president and chief technology officer and I added his former positions with the Swedish Handball Federation and the Swedish Olympic Committee.

In the infobox, I added Uppsala University to the Alma mater parameter and edited the Occupation parameter with Hans Vestberg's current title, as well as the fact that he is the "incoming CEO of Verizon". I removed his former work with Ericsson, since that is no longer is occupation.

Under External links in the live article, there is a list of articles about Mr. Vestberg becoming CEO of Ericsson. It does not appear these articles are necessary to lead to a better encyclopedic understanding of Mr. Vestberg. Additionally, Wikipedia:External_links#Important_points_to_remember says that "Links in the "External links" section should be kept to a minimum". I recommend replacing the existing external links with a link to Verizon's official bio of Mr. Vestberg.

Pinging Whoisjohngalt, can you also review this request? I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest so I ask others to look and make these edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 21:50, 28 July 2018 (UTC)

Reply 28-JUL-2018

Partially implemented

1. Y The main prose of the lead as shown in the draft was implemented.
2. Y The external link was added.
3. N Common and duplinks were omitted per LINKCRISIS. Those proposed for the infobox did not appear to add helpful benefits in an article of this size, as described in MOS:DUPLINK.

Regards  spintendo  01:46, 29 July 2018 (UTC)

@Spintendo: Thank you! VZBob (talk) 11:40, 31 July 2018 (UTC)

Hans Vestberg is now CEO of Verizon

Hi page watchers, Hans Vestberg is now CEO of Verizon. @Whoisjohngalt: Would you mind updating this article to reflect the change? I recommend:

• Replacing all the material in the Occupation parameter in the infobox to read: CEO of Verizon
• Updating the first sentence of the introduction to read: Hans Vestberg (born 23 June 1965) is a Swedish businessman and CEO of Verizon Communications, where he previously worked as executive vice president of the company's Network and Technology team, and as chief technology officer.

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest so I ask others to look and make these edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 21:21, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

References

Thanks to the IP editor who updated the page to show that Hans Vestberg is now CEO. Thank you, VZBob (talk) 18:34, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Apple Event

Hans Vestberg recently made a surprise guest appearance at the latest Apple Event, on October 13, 2020. Is that worth including in this article? If so, I prepared some language for reviewers to consider. I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest. Following in the footsteps of my former colleague, VZBob, I won't be making direct edits to articles where I have a conflict, so I will propose edits here. I propose:

• Vestberg appeared alongside Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook at the October 23, 2020, Apple Event to announce plans of expanded 5G coverage.

References

This is what the three sources I used say:

Financial Times

"Making a surprise guest appearance, Verizon chief executive Hans Vestberg announced the company would initiate nationwide 5G network, providing a short-term jolt to its stock price. One Apple watcher, Gene Munster at Loup Ventures, estimated the change would initially be available to only 1 per cent of the US population."

CNET

"The deals, while not as aggressive as those offered by rival AT&T, come after Verizon took a prominent role during Apple's iPhone event. The carrier's CEO, Hans Vestberg, appeared on stage during the virtual keynote to announce its new nationwide 5G network with numerous Apple speakers referencing Verizon and its 5G network during the event."

The Wall Street Journal

"Verizon Communications Inc. CEO Hans Vestberg, who participated in the event, acknowledged customers’ lukewarm response to 5G so far even as he suggested Apple's new phones would lead many to reconsider.

I'm including additional sources below in case editors find them helpful:

The Wall Street Journal

"Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg joined an event last week to unveil Apple’s four iPhone 12 models and announced plans to expand Verizon’s high-speed 5G coverage, which had been limited to major cities for most of the year."

Fierce Wireless

"Billed as the 'Hi, Speed' event, Apple’s extravaganza featured special guest Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, who joined Apple CEO Tim Cook on stage. In addition to doubling down on its 5G Ultra Wideband network, Verizon launched its 5G Nationwide network, reaching more than 200 million people across 1,800 cities and towns. According to Vestberg, 5G just 'got real.'"

As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft material and make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 11:54, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Pinging Whoisjohngalt, who reviewed requests by my former colleague, VZBob, in the past. Do you think Hans Vestberg's appearance at the October 13, 2020, Apple Event is worth including in this biography? As I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, I ask others to look at my draft material and make edits on my behalf. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 22:46, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

 Not done Hi @VZEric:, thank you for requesting this edit. This is an announcement of a future event, and since Wikipedia does not predict the future I have declined to add the edit. Also, I do not think this event is notable in the biography of Vestberg. If you have any questions please post below or on my talk page. Z1720 (talk) 20:01, 13 November 2020 (UTC)

Z1720: Thanks for considering this request. I thought it may be worth including because Apple events rarely have guest speakers like this. Do you think adding a brief mention of Hans Vestberg to the List_of_Apple_Inc._media_events#Apple_Event_(October_13,_2020) is possible? Let me know what you think. If you think that might be appropriate, I could put a request there. Thank you, VZEric (talk) 20:13, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

@VZEric: I think that's a better spot to put this information. I would open a request there. Z1720 (talk) 21:57, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

@Z1720: Thanks! I have done just that. If you're interested, you can see it at Talk:List_of_Apple_Inc._media_events. VZEric (talk) 18:26, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Proposed Update to Career Section

Would it be possible for editors to update portions of the Career section? I propose:

• Changing the following sentence:
  • Existing content: "Ericsson ousted Vestberg on July 25, 2016, following poor financial results" to
  • Proposed content: "Slowing industry demand and new competition impacted Vestberg's tenure as CEO, despite his cost cutting efforts and acquisitions. He was ousted July 2015, following Ericsson's poor financial performance."
  • Reason for the change: My proposed addition provides context to the challenges Ericsson faced during Hans Vestberg's tenure, as verified by independent sources.

• Adding Vestberg's professional board contributions?
  • Vestberg chairs the World Economic Forum’s Edison Alliance, which is a global telecom ecosystem that in 2021 focused on digital inclusion. In May 2021, Vestberg was elected to the board of directors of BlackRock, where he serves on the governance committee. Verstberg serves as a board member on the United Nations Foundation, and the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative,, as well as a commissioner on the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
  • Reason for the change: This addition updates the article with new information.

• Removing the sentence In June 2021, Verizon and Vestberg were openly criticized over a $40 million golden parachute alleging the scale constitutes boardroom misconduct."
  • Reason for the change: The source cited is a MarketWatch opinion piece that quotes one critical investor. This criticism did not generate significant media coverage. However, if the content is to stay in the article, I would ask if Wikipedia editors would include the context that Verizon's executive compensation proposal was approved by 92.49% of the voters at the company's annual meeting in 2021. Verizon Board Results 2021

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, so I ask others to make edits on my behalf. Thank you, MichaelG-M23 (talk) 19:43, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

References

Hi MichaelG-M23, I have reviewed your request and implemented your first two requested changes. For the third proposed change, I swapped out the opinion piece reference and used a reference from Crain's New York Business and reworded the sentence to clarify who was involved in criticism. "Significant media coverage" is a subjective claim and a search did show that this was covered by at least several news agencies. Do you have an independent source for the executive compensation proposal with more clarity? The provided source does not specifically what the "management proposal regarding approval of Verizon’s executive compensation" entails, and whether this is the $40M golden parachute or an alternative compensation plan. When you reply, please remove the "|P" from {{request edit}} above to reopen the request for review. Best, Spencer^T•C 01:12, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

@Spencer: Thank you for updating the article on my behalf. I agree the Crain's New York Business source is a fair replacement. While I do not have any independent sources that verify the vote over the executive compensation proposal, I can share our proxy here. The executive compensation proposal is described on page 10, and the compensation table that describes the payment to Hans Vestberg in the event of termination or change of control is on page 66.

This is all part of the executive compensation plan approved by shareholders at the 2021 annual meeting. We report the voting results on our website here. Please understand that these sources are a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the result of our proxy vote, which we are required to report on accurately, also as regulated by the SEC.

It seems fair to include this context. Would it be possible to consider adding that the package was approved by 92.49% of the voters at the company's annual meeting in 2021 based on the links I shared above? Thank you for considering. MichaelG-M23 (talk) 19:18, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

I do not see compensation tables on page 66 of the regulatory filing; that page seems to describe "Item 6: Shareholder Ratification of Annual Equity Awards" (which appears to be the shareholder proposal capping executive compensation?) And per the meeting results on the Verizon page you shared, this has nearly 40% support, rather than the 92% support for compensation that you highlighted above. Although use of primary sources is allowed in some circumstances, this appears to me to be bordering on Original research, because IMO the data cited above needs interpretation to clarify what all these proposals mean and be appropriately be added to the article, and "interpretation of primary source material requires a reliable secondary source for that interpretation". I am not declining your request, but I will leave it for another editor to review. In my opinion, without an adequate secondary source for this information, the primary sources provided above do not have sufficient context alone to be added to the article neutrally. Spencer^T•C 22:40, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

@Spencer: Thank you for looking into my request and the Board document. I do not have secondary sources to verify the Board vote or percentages further, as these items are not often reported on, but are instead reported in regulatory filings. I appreciate your evaluation of the Board doc and explanation. Thanks for keeping the request open in case other editors feel the sourcing is appropriate for this request. MichaelG-M23 (talk) 16:42, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

 Partly done: You are welcome to open a new thread to discuss solely the item that was not done. Thinker78 (talk) 17:07, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposed Updates To Article

Hi, my name is Mike and I work on the executive communications team at Verizon. The company would like to update Hans Vestberg’s page to reflect his more recent work. Due to my conflict of interest, can Wikipedia editors update this information? I have provided the updates and the sources below. I am happy to answer any questions and provide clarification if editors have any inquiries about the suggested updates – thank you!

I propose:

Changing the following sentence in the Introduction:

• Existing content: Hans Vestberg (born 23 June 1965) is a Swedish businessman and CEO of Verizon Communications, where he has worked as executive vice president of the company's network and technology team, and as chief technology officer.
• Proposed content: Hans Vestberg (born 23 June 1965) is the CEO and Chairman of Verizon, where he has worked as executive vice president of the company's network and technology team, and as chief technology officer.
• Reason for the change: This proposed change adds Vestberg's position as chairman, which is confirmed in the article. Additionally, it removes the "Swedish" description due to Vestberg no longer being located in Sweden and pages such as Elon Musk not including this descriptor (also, his being born in Sweden is addressed in the biography section).

 Done. Source not needed in lead, the lead is supposed to summarize the body text and it is already cited there. Rusalkii (talk) 04:59, 24 August 2024 (UTC)

Change the following sentence at the end of the Career section:

• In 2021, Verizon and Vestberg were criticized for Vestberg's $39.4 million golden parachute executive compensation plan, with a group of retired shareholders called the Association of BellTel Retirees alleging that the scale constituted boardroom misconduct.
• Proposed content: In 2021, a group of retired shareholders named the Association of BellTel Retirees called for Verizon to limit exit packages given to various departing corporate executives, including a $39 million plan for Vestberg.
• Reason for change: The content is a biased summary of what the sourced article is written. Specifically:
  • The source does not attribute this as "Vestberg's plan".
  • Vestberg was not specifically criticized in the source.
  • Vestberg is only mentioned in relation to the size of his specific compensation exit package in the source and the criticism is for the exit packages in general, Vestberg was just being used as an example.
  • While the source does call this a "golden parachute" the phrase is not neutral phrasing; "exit package" is more accurate.

The source does not use the phrase "boardroom misconduct" or even allude to it. "Misconduct" is only mentioned in relation to a hypothetical plan to not award exit packages if executive misconduct were to occur.

 Partly done. Agreed that neither "boardroom misconduct" nor similar phrases occur in the source. Otherwise the existing phrasing seems broadly reasonable. Rusalkii (talk) 04:59, 24 August 2024 (UTC)

Add to the Career Section:

"In 2022, Vestberg announced that the company would offer its discounted Verizon Forward plan to low-income households to promote digital inclusion."

Based on these sources:

^ Sibley, Jessica (28 September 2023). "Executive Spotlight: The Importance of Digital Equity". TIME. Retrieved 12 August 2024. https://time.com/6318085/executive-spotlight-the-importance-of-digital-equity/ ^ Weinschenk, Carl (7 October 2022). "ACP Households Can Now Get Verizon Fixed Wireless for Free". Broadband Breakfast. Retrieved 14 August 2024. https://www.telecompetitor.com/acp-households-can-now-get-verizon-fixed-wireless-for-free/

 Not done, sourced to an interview and trade mag which just mentions Vestberg as mouthpiece for the company. For something like this I would want to see an independent source discussing Vestberg's input into this, otherwise it's just "while he was CEO, a thing happened at this company". Rusalkii (talk) 04:59, 24 August 2024 (UTC)

Note: I have added links to what I presume are the sources you mean. In the future, could you please provide links when you reference online sources?

References

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, so I ask others to make edits on my behalf. Thank you, MichaelG-M23 (talk) 14:28, 23 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank you Rusalkii for reviewing this and

implementing some of our suggestions. It appears that there is a slight grammatical error as one sentence now reads, "In 2021, Verizon and Vestberg were criticized '''by with a group''' of retired shareholders called the Association of BellTel Retirees for Vestberg's $39.4 million golden parachute executive compensation plan." Can this be fixed?

Also, please reconsider the phrase "golden parachute"

as I am not convinced that it meets WP:NPOV. The term is industry jargon that clearly pushes a perspective. "Exit package" or "severance package" would be more neutral.

Thank you MichaelG-M23 (talk) 20:17, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Feel free to make the grammatical edit yourself and fix any other completely unambiguous errors that do not change the meaning in any way; this is generally allowed. As for the golden parachute language, it is regularly used in the sources, including in the editorial voice of the publication. I am not entirely convinced it is correct here but I stand by my opinion that it is not obviously in violation of NPOV; if any other uninvolved editor wishes to change it I don't object. Rusalkii (talk) 21:52, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Thanks Rusalkii for the go ahead, but I

prefer that editors make all edits as I keep a strict line against direct editing.

I am also going to open up a request below so that there can

be an opportunity for other editors to review the golden parachute language since no one else can weigh in unless they're following this conversation directly. I appreciate the review. MichaelG-M23 (talk) 17:43, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

You have been told that it is okay for you to make the edit. If you can't be bothered to do it, despite being paid to make edit requests, why should anyone else do it for you? Axad12 (talk) 18:43, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

NPOV Language Proposal

Hello. Following the discussion above with editors, I am opening a fresh request that will be easier for editors to follow, regarding the use of the phrase "golden parachute".

In the sentence, "In June 2021, Verizon and Vestberg were openly criticized over a $40 million golden parachute alleging the scale constitutes boardroom misconduct."

I propose reconsidering the phrase "golden parachute" due to WP:NPOV since this phrase has a negative connotation. I suggest simply "exit package" or "severance package" as neutral terms.

I work for Verizon and have a conflict of interest, so I ask others to make edits on my behalf. Thank you, MichaelG-M23 (talk) MichaelG-M23 (talk) 17:49, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

I agree with Rusalkii, above. I don't believe that the phrase Golden Parachute is in any way a breach of WP:NPOV and I'm surprised that you continue to push this opinion. Axad12 (talk) 18:41, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

I agree that the use of "golden parachute" is not a breach of NPOV, it appears to be a regularly used industry term. Encoded  Talk 💬 20:23, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: Apologies but I'm closing down this request. Three volunteers who regularly deal with COI edit requests have said that they disagree with the requesting user on the point under discussion. That is a WP:CONSENSUS (at least in terms of the anticipated low footfall at COI edit requests).

It isn't reasonable to keep this repeat request open on the basis that eventually someone might pass by who happens to take a different view (as they would still be significantly in the minority in any case). Axad12 (talk) 04:29, 30 October 2024 (UTC)