Charlotte-based Brightspeed has a new leader. The telecommunications firm today named Tom Maguire, its current chief operating officer, as the next CEO.
Maguire will succeed Bob Mudge, who has served as the company's CEO since its inception in late 2021. Mudge will transition to executive chair of Brightspeed's board of directors and will be responsible for strategic oversight of the company. Manny Sampedro will replace Maguire as its new COO. The new titles will be effective on Nov. 1.
As CEO, Maguire will oversee the company's expansion efforts to bring its internet services to more than 3 million homes and businesses across its 20-state footprint. That plan includes providing reliable internet service in more than 800,000 underserved homes in North Carolina over the next five years.
In October 2022, Brightspeed closed on a $7.5 billion deal to acquire network assets in 20 states from Lumen Technologies’ incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) business. As a result of that acquisition, Brightspeed officially launched as a separate operation owned by Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO). Brightspeed pledges to use its $2 billion from Apollo to continue to build a more efficient fiber network and increase its workforce.
Brightspeed had more than 100 team members in Charlotte and 4,000 employees nationwide as of February.
Maguire brings over four decades of industry experience to the table. He started his career as a field technician at Verizon and climbed his way up to various leadership roles while working there. Maguire also served as Verizon's senior vice president of national operations support. Brightspeed said Maguire's duties included overseeing the processes and systems that supported 35,000 field technicians, engineering employees and network operations staff members.
As the firm's current COO, Maguire leads a nearly 3,000-member team and is responsible for service and repair, as well as helping to lead the company's multiyear fiber network deployment.
Maguire, Mudge and Chris Creager, the company's chief administrative officer, are co-founders of Brightspeed.
"I'm honored to expand my role at Brightspeed and continue to build on the legacy that Bob, Chris and I helped to establish," Maguire said. "Brightspeed has an incredibly promising future, and it's a true privilege to get to work alongside our talented team to bring faster, more reliable internet to millions of people who don't have it today."
Sampedro, a veteran in the telecommunications space, will be new to the organization. He most recently served as senior vice president of business transformation at Verizon. Over his 25-year career at the wireless carrier, Sampedro also held several executive positions with notable responsibilities in Verizon's profit and loss business.
"I've been watching Brightspeed's transition from a concept to a company over the last year, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to support and contribute to the company's long-term vision," Sampedro said.
Earlier this year, Brightspeed also moved into its new 27,000-square-foot headquarters at Vantage South End's east tower. That space can accommodate about 300 workers and houses the company's legal, marketing, finance and human resources divisions.
