Telecommunications behemoth AT&T Inc. announced on Friday that chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr., 65, will retire from the firm on June 3. Whitacre, who began his journey with the firm in 1963 as a facility engineer, held his current titles for 17 years. He made a string of acquisitions during his tenure. The biggest was the most recent: the deal to acquire BellSouth Corp. for $86 billion, which closed in December. One of the most interesting was the $47 billion deal to buy AT&T Wireless in 2004, subject of a cover story by former AT&T wireless dealmaker Josh King in Corporate Dealmaker.

Succeeding Whitacre is Randall Stephenson, currently COO. Stephenson began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone in 1982 and serves as vice chairman of the White House's national security telecommunications advisory committee.

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