Acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T

AT&T Inc. announced an agreement with the DirecTV Group on May 18, 2014, to acquire the company for $48.5 billion in a joint cash-stock transaction and assumed debts of $18.6 billion for a total offer of $67.1 billion.^[1][2] Due to stalling growth in the wireless sector, AT&T began diversifying into mass media to expand its consumer offerings.^[3][4] After regulatory agencies approved the purchase on July 24, 2015, AT&T briefly became the largest Pay-Tv provider.^[5] DirecTV was brought under AT&T's communication segment and DirecTV Now was launched on November 30, 2016, as an alternative to cord-cutting.^[6][7]

In the years following the purchase, DirecTV lost millions of subscribers across its satellite and streaming services and by 2019, calls grew for AT&T to divest itself off the business.^[8] Initially, AT&T rejected these calls and defended the acquisition, but by February 2021, it reached a deal with TPG Inc. to transfer ownership of DirecTV.^[9][10] Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T would retain a 70% majority stake in DirecTV but would no longer oversee its daily operations. The deal was finalized by August 2, 2021, with AT&T receiving $7.1 billion.^[11] By July 3, 2025, AT&T sold its majority stake to TPG, ending any ties of involvement.^[12]

The company to bear the name "AT&T" was founded on March 3, 1885, as American Telephone and Telegraph Company (or AT&T Corporation) by Theodore Newton Vail as a long-distance subsidiary of the Bell Telephone Company. By December 1899, the Bell Telephone's assets were transferred to AT&T, with the latter gaining control of the Bell System, a regional network of local telecom companies. Theodore Vail became AT&T's President in 1907 and under his leadership, AT&T gained a monopoly over the telephone sector in the United States. This near century dominance earned AT&T the nickname of "Ma Bell." In 1974, the U.S. Department of Justice sued AT&T on accounts of antitrust violations. AT&T challenged the lawsuit, but in 1982, it reached a settlement with the DOJ to break apart its Bell System monopoly into seven regional companies. On January 1, 1984, the Bell System came to an end and led to a reshaped telecom industry.

One of these regional companies, Southwestern Bell, emerged as the smallest, but after the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act, deregulated telecom rules allowed SBC to become a major telecom company. AT&T briefly became the largest cable and broadband company by the end of the 20th Century, but later deconsolidated to exit those industries. In 2005, SBC acquired its former parent, AT&T, and took on its branding as AT&T Inc, while retaining its previous business history. The newly reincorporated AT&T acquired BellSouth in 2006 and reconstituted much of its former Bell System.

Acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T