ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Hamid Akhavan has joined Dish as president and chief executive officer and will oversee the company’s video services, wireless businesses and subsidiaries.
Akhavan, who also will continue in his role as CEO and president of EchoStar, previously was a partner at Twin Point Capital before his taking on the leadership roles at the companies.
In August, when the merger of the companies was announced, there was an announcement that Akhavan would continue as CEO of the combined company. The merger is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, Dish said.
"Hamid brings a unique set of skills to Dish, building off his experience in the technology, telecom, private equity and investment sectors," said Charlie Ergen, co-founder and chairman of Dish Network. "An engineer by background, he's financially astute and a seasoned manager. He currently serves EchoStar, Dish's sister company, as CEO and will lead both companies in order to hit the ground running, once the merger with EchoStar is complete."
Prior to his role with Twin Point Capital, Akhavan was a founding partner at Long Arc Capital and was CEO of Unity (formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications), Chief Operating Offices at Deutsche Telekom and CEO of T-Mobile International, it said.
"There is tremendous opportunity at Dish, and even more so once it's combined with EchoStar," said Akhavan. "This appointment will enable me and the teams to get a head start in preparing to run the combined business of the companies."
More information is available on the company’s website.
