AT&T Inc. reported a planned finance leadership transition that coincided with a modest market reaction on Tuesday evening. In a regulatory filing, the company said Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches will retire at the end of the year, with his retirement effective December 31, 2026.
The filing also outlined the succession plan. Jennifer Biry will join AT&T as Deputy Chief Financial Officer on July 6, 2026, and is scheduled to assume the role of Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 2027. The company presented the dates as explicit milestones in the handover timetable.
Market participants registered a reaction to the announcement: AT&T shares declined 1.7% in after-hours trading following the regulatory disclosure. The move in the stock price was the only market metric cited in the filing and accompanying communications.
Biry, 52, brings experience that the filing highlights. She has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of McAfee since 2022. Prior to her time at McAfee, Biry held a series of senior roles at AT&T between 1999 and 2022. Among those positions, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of WarnerMedia - then an AT&T subsidiary - from 2020 to 2022.
The company's announcement established a clear timeline for leadership change: an appointment to Deputy CFO in July 2026 followed by a formal elevation to the CFO role at the start of 2027, coinciding with Desroches' retirement at the close of 2026. The regulatory filing is the source for the effective dates and the professional background provided for both executives.
This account focuses strictly on the facts disclosed by the company: the retirement date, the specified deputy appointment date, the effective start date for the new CFO role, the professional background summarized in the filing, and the immediate market response in after-hours trading.