Telus CEO Darren Entwistle outside his Toronto office in September, 2022.JENNIFER ROBERTS/for The Washington Post
Long-time chief executive officer of Telus Corp. T-T Darren Entwistle will retire on June 30. He will be replaced by Victor Dodig, a board member and former chief executive officer of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Mr. Entwistle, 63, known as the industry’s longest-serving executive, joined Telus in 2000 and oversaw the company’s transition from a regional telecom company to a digital giant with multiple international divisions.
Over the past 25 years, the company’s enterprise value has more than quintupled to $57-billion.
Mr. Entwistle’s departure follows his long tenure at the company and a period in which the company has come under fire from analysts and credit raters for its dividend strategy and heavy debt.
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His departure follows a multiyear recruitment effort to find a replacement chief. The company has had a contract with Zurich-based executive search firm Egon Zehnder International Ltd. since at least 2022.
“The change might infuse a reset at Telus, but the timing of the transition comes as a surprise to us as well as internally at Telus from our understanding,” said Bank of Nova Scotia analyst Maher Yaghi in a note to investors Thursday.
He said that recent changes at the helm of American telecom companies have resulted in significant internal personnel changes at Telus.
“It will be important to see how Telus can do this transition while retaining important executives.”
Victor Dodig, a Telus board member and former bank chief, will succeed Mr. Entwistle as CEO.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
He is leaving the company in the middle of major transformation for the business and amid a challenging time for the industry as a whole, as population growth has slowed and wireless prices have been forced down by greater competition.
After winding down its years-long fibre buildout, the company is now actively working toward possible spinouts of several of the divisions that Mr. Entwistle backed and hoped to monetize during his tenure. That includes the company’s health division, Telus Health, which Mr. Entwistle championed in particular.
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Under his leadership, the company spun out Telus International, now branded as Telus Digital, in 2021. However, the company bought that business back last year after its share price dropped by 90 per cent in the wake of industry-wide pressures on customer-service businesses.
The company’s share price has broadly been in decline since 2022 and is down 27 per cent from five years ago.
Last spring, the company said it would slow the pace of growth of its dividend. In the fall, after analysts said the company’s plan was not sustainable, the company initially dug in its heels before changing course a week later and pausing dividend increases.
“Under Darren’s leadership we were operating under the assumption that the dividend is sacred and will be defended. The board with a new CEO might have other prerogatives on capital allocation,” Mr. Yaghi said.
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In conjunction with his retirement as CEO, Mr. Entwistle will also step down from the board on June 30.
“It has been a tremendous privilege to be a member of the Telus team,” Mr. Entwistle said in a statement.
“This team shows up every day to serve our customers, support our communities and build a company that Canadians can trust. To be part of this extraordinary team, and to support them, has been the greatest honour of my career,” he said.
In support of the transition, Mr. Entwistle will act as an adviser to Mr. Dodig until April, 2027.
Mr. Dodig served as president and CEO of CIBC from 2014 to 2025. “I am excited to build on Darren’s legacy and by the opportunity to lead Telus in its exciting next chapter,” Mr. Dodig said in a statement.
“A well regarded executive, Dodig ran CIBC and at the time of his departure the bank’s performance was viewed as strong,” Mr. Yaghi said.