Telephone and Data Systems Management
Management criteria checks 2/4
Telephone and Data Systems' CEO is Walter Carlson, appointed in Feb 2025, has a tenure of 1.58 years. total yearly compensation is $8.01M, comprised of 9.2% salary and 90.8% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 3.88% of the company’s shares, worth €144.39M. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 1.6 years and 13.8 years respectively.
Key information
Walter Carlson
Chief executive officer
US$8.0m
Total compensation
| CEO salary percentage | 9.18% |
| CEO tenure | 1.6yrs |
| CEO ownership | 3.9% |
| Management average tenure | 1.6yrs |
| Board average tenure | 13.8yrs |
Recent management updates
Recent updates
CEO Compensation Analysis
| Date | Total Compensation | Salary | Company Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 30 2026 | n/a | n/a | US$467m |
| Mar 31 2026 | n/a | n/a | US$201m |
| Dec 31 2025 | US$8m | US$736k | US$48m |
| Sep 30 2025 | n/a | n/a | US$12m |
| Jun 30 2025 | n/a | n/a | -US$129m |
| Mar 31 2025 | n/a | n/a | -US$177m |
| Dec 31 2024 | US$291k | n/a | -US$141m |
| Sep 30 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$665m |
| Jun 30 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$582m |
| Mar 31 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$548m |
| Dec 31 2023 | US$271k | n/a | -US$620m |
| Sep 30 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$88m |
| Jun 30 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$97m |
| Mar 31 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$60m |
| Dec 31 2022 | US$238k | n/a | -US$7m |
| Sep 30 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$47m |
| Jun 30 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$101m |
| Mar 31 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$104m |
| Dec 31 2021 | US$231k | n/a | US$117m |
| Sep 30 2021 | n/a | n/a | US$119m |
| Jun 30 2021 | n/a | n/a | US$168m |
| Mar 31 2021 | n/a | n/a | US$214m |
| Dec 31 2020 | US$231k | n/a | US$226m |
| Sep 30 2020 | n/a | n/a | US$223m |
| Jun 30 2020 | n/a | n/a | US$164m |
| Mar 31 2020 | n/a | n/a | US$131m |
| Dec 31 2019 | US$228k | n/a | US$121m |
Compensation vs Market: Walter's total compensation ($USD8.01M) is above average for companies of similar size in the German market ($USD2.32M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Walter's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
CEO
Walter Carlson (72 yo)
Mr. Walter Carlson serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. since February 01, 2025. He has been a Non-Independent Director of Array Digital Infrastructure, Inc....
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | 1.6yrs | US$8.01m | 3.88% € 144.4m | |
| Executive VP | 4.3yrs | US$3.39m | 0.063% € 2.3m | |
| President & CEO of UScellular | 6.7yrs | US$9.31m | no data | |
| President of Array & CEO of Array | less than a year | US$2.29m | 0.16% € 5.9m | |
| Chief Accounting Officer | 9.3yrs | no data | 0.018% € 663.5k | |
| Corporate Finance & Investor Relations Senior Manager | less than a year | no data | no data | |
| Senior VP & Chief Information Officer | less than a year | no data | no data | |
| General Counsel & Assistant Secretary | no data | no data | no data | |
| Senior VP of Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer | 1.4yrs | no data | no data | |
| VP of Corporate Relations & Treasurer | 8.3yrs | no data | no data | |
| VP of Internal Audit & Corporate Secretary | 1.7yrs | no data | no data |
Experienced Management: TDA1's management team is not considered experienced ( 1.6 years average tenure), which suggests a new team.
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | 45.7yrs | US$8.01m | 3.88% € 144.4m | |
| Executive VP | 3.1yrs | US$3.39m | 0.063% € 2.3m | |
| Independent Director | 7.3yrs | US$274.89k | 0.037% € 1.4m | |
| Independent Lead Director | 20.7yrs | US$312.94k | 0.042% € 1.6m | |
| Non-Independent Director | 30.7yrs | US$231.14k | 3.69% € 137.1m | |
| Independent Director | 29.7yrs | US$273.14k | 0.068% € 2.5m | |
| Vice Chair | 58.7yrs | US$15.64m | 4.7% € 174.8m | |
| Director | 1.3yrs | US$4.42m | 0.0027% € 102.2k | |
| Non-Independent Director | 18.3yrs | US$231.14k | 3.57% € 132.8m | |
| Independent Director | 9.3yrs | US$282.74k | 0.040% € 1.5m | |
| Independent Director | 1.8yrs | US$190.93k | 0.0040% € 147.9k | |
| Independent Director | 4.3yrs | US$251.64k | 0.013% € 492.1k |
Experienced Board: TDA1's board of directors are seasoned and experienced ( 13.8 years average tenure).
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2026/09/11 15:46 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2026/09/11 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2026/06/30 |
| Annual Earnings | 2025/12/31 |
Data Sources
The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.
| Package | Data | Timeframe | Example US Source * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Financials | 10 years |
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| Analyst Consensus Estimates | +3 years |
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| Market Prices | 30 years |
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| Ownership | 10 years |
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| Management | 10 years |
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| Key Developments | 10 years |
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* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.
Analysis Model and Snowflake
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Industry and Sector Metrics
Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.
Analyst Sources
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. is covered by 9 analysts. 3 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.
| Analyst | Institution |
|---|---|
| William Power | Baird |
| Zachary Silver | B. Riley Securities, Inc. |
| Michael Rollins | Citigroup Inc |