American Tower

American Tower was organized on July 17, 1995, as a subsidiary of American Radio Systems Corporation, after Steven B. Dodge, then American Radio’s CEO, and other managers saw an opportunity in the tower business.⁠[1]

American Radio completed its merger with CBS Corporation as of June 4, 1998, and distributed the company’s shares to its securityholders. On June 5, the stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AMT. On June 8, the former American Tower Corporation merged into the company, which changed its name from American Tower Systems Corporation to American Tower Corporation.⁠[2]

From January 1999 the company completed more than 60 transactions involving more than 4,460 sites, and at the end of 1999 it operated approximately 5,100 communications sites.⁠[1]

On October 10, 2003, the board named James D. Taiclet chief executive officer, succeeding Steven B. Dodge, who continued as chairman. Taiclet had been president and chief operating officer since September 2001. Dodge said Taiclet had “the drive to excel in this role.”⁠[3]

On August 8, 2005, American Tower completed its merger with SpectraSite, Inc., whose stockholders received 3.575 shares of American Tower Class A common stock for each SpectraSite share. The combined company owned over 22,000 communications sites, including over 21,500 wireless towers and over 400 broadcast towers.⁠[4]

In May 2006, the board set up a special committee of independent directors to review the company’s stock option granting practices. The company restated historical financial statements to record compensation expense for certain past grants, and received an informal SEC inquiry letter and a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.⁠[5]

The related federal securities class action was settled with a $14.0 million payment by the company, which the court finally approved in June 2008. The original plaintiff withdrew his appeals in January 2009, ending that litigation. A federal shareholder derivative action was dismissed in February 2008 without appeal, while an appeal in a state derivative action was still pending when the 2008 annual report was filed.⁠[6]

At 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 31, 2011, American Tower Corporation merged into its wholly owned subsidiary American Tower REIT, Inc., which was renamed American Tower Corporation. The company began operating as a real estate investment trust (REIT) on January 1, 2012, and its stock continued to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AMT.⁠[7]

On October 1, 2013, American Tower completed its acquisition of 100% of MIP Tower Holdings LLC, the parent of Global Tower Partners (GTP), paying approximately $3.3 billion in cash and assuming approximately $1.5 billion of GTP debt. GTP’s majority owner was Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. After the deal, the company had over 61,000 communications sites in the U.S. and 12 other countries.⁠[8]

On March 30, 2015, American Tower closed its acquisition of the exclusive right to lease, and other rights to, 11,448 VerizonVerizonVerizon (Verizon Communications Inc.) is one of the largest telecommunications carriers in the United States, formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic, one of the “Baby Bells,” and GTE. Headquartered in New York City, it operates a nationwide wireless network, Fios fiber broadband and communications services for businesses and government, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.Open the full entry wireless communications sites for approximately $5.053 billion in cash.⁠[9]

On April 21, 2016, American Tower closed its acquisition of a 51% controlling interest in Viom Networks Limited in India, which held over 42,000 communications sites. It paid approximately 76 billion Indian rupees in cash and assumed approximately INR 51 billion of debt.⁠[10]

On May 30, 2019, American Tower announced an agreement to acquire Eaton Towers Holding Limited, which had approximately 5,500 sites in five African markets, for approximately $1.85 billion including assumed Eaton Towers debt. CEO Jim Taiclet said the deal “will significantly augment our existing footprint in Africa.”⁠[11]

On March 16, 2020, the company named Thomas A. Bartlett, executive vice president and chief financial officer, president and chief executive officer effective immediately, succeeding James D. Taiclet, who was to become president and CEO of Lockheed MartinLockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an American aerospace and defense company whose main businesses include military aircraft, missile defense, rotary-wing aircraft and mission systems, and space systems.Open the full entry. Bartlett had joined from Verizon Communications in April 2009.⁠[12]

American Tower’s agreement with Telefónica’s Telxius covered 30,722 tower sites in separate European and Latin American transactions. In June 2021, it closed the first tranche, nearly 20,000 communications sites in Germany and Spain, for approximately 6.2 billion euros ($7.6 billion), with about 4,000 more rooftop sites in Germany expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.⁠[13]

In November 2021, American Tower announced a deal to acquire data center operator CoreSite Realty Corporation for $170 per share in cash, valuing the transaction at approximately $10.1 billion including CoreSite debt assumed or repaid. The tender offer expired on December 28, 2021, after which the company completed the second-step merger.⁠[14]

On December 28, 2021, the company announced the completion of the acquisition. CEO Tom Bartlett said: “We are thrilled to welcome CoreSite’s exceptional team to American Tower.”⁠[15]

In October 2023, the company announced that Thomas A. Bartlett would retire effective February 1, 2024, and that Steven O. Vondran, president of the U.S. Tower Division, would then become president and chief executive officer and join the board. Vondran joined the company in 2000 and had served as general counsel of the U.S. Tower Division.⁠[16]

On September 12, 2024, American Tower closed the sale of 100% of the equity of its India operations to Data Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust sponsored by an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, for total proceeds of approximately INR 210 billion (about $2.5 billion), including about $320 million from monetizing Vodafone Idea optionally convertible debentures and receivables.⁠[17]

American Tower and Dish Wireless signed a strategic collocation agreement in March 2021 running through 2036. After EchoStar agreed to sell spectrum to AT&TAT&TAT&T (AT&T Inc.) is a telecommunications company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Its predecessor was SBC Communications, a regional holding company created in the 1984 breakup of the Bell System; SBC merged with the original AT&T Corp. in 2005 and adopted its name, and it has since operated a nationwide wireless network and fiber broadband, at one time also owning DIRECTV and WarnerMedia.Open the full entry and SpaceXSpaceXSpaceX is a company founded by Elon Musk in 2002 whose businesses include space transportation, Starlink satellite communications and artificial intelligence. It went public in 2026 under the ticker SPCX.Open the full entry, Dish wrote in September 2025 that it was “excused” from its tower obligations. On October 20, American Tower sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, seeking a declaration that the agreement remains in effect.⁠[18]

As of March 2026, no ruling had been issued. American Tower has said Dish owes it about $2 billion, and CEO Steve Vondran said: “We don’t necessarily expect this to get resolved this year.”⁠[19]

As of December 31, 2025, American Tower owned 149,686 communications sites and operated 30 data centers in eleven U.S. markets, with operations in more than 20 countries and 4,866 full-time employees.⁠[20]

On February 24, 2026, American Tower posted 2025 total revenue of $10.645 billion, up 5.1%, and net income attributable to common stockholders of $2.530 billion, versus $2.255 billion in 2024, which included a $1.2 billion loss on the India sale. AFFO per share was $10.76, and common distributions totaled $6.80 per share.⁠[21]

On October 27, 2026, American Tower posted third-quarter total revenue of $2.785 billion, up 2.5%, and net income attributable to common stockholders of $766 million, down 10.3%. It raised its full-year outlook for the third time and had agreed to sell its Canadian subsidiaries for about 288 million Canadian dollars, expected to close in the fourth quarter.⁠[22]

After its merger with SpectraSite, American Tower joined the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry and opened an office in New Delhi, its first outside the Americas.⁠[23]

Effective April 6, 2020, American Tower replaced Raytheon in the S&P 100.⁠[24]