Perhaps a Trump presidency won’t be so bad after all. At least, not for giant corporations like AT&T.
Company CEO Randall Stephenson took part in the 2016 UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday morning, where he laid out a few reasons to be optimistic about President Trump.
“We’re hopeful that perhaps maybe a more moderate approach to some of these regulations is in the making under a Trump administration,” Stephenson said of the incoming FCC regime.
He specifically cited a simpatico stance with the president-elect’s transition team when it comes to Title II and net neutrality.
Stephenson is also encouraged by Trump’s ideas on corporate tax reform.
“I do believe when you’re the highest-taxed country in the developed world, that has an implication on investment,” he said of the current United States climate under President Obama.
The executive trying to acquire Time Warner for $80 billion-plus believes that economists are even “underestimating the impact of pulling back to a more rational level of regulation … [and] tax reform.” For the first time in a long time, AT&T’s CPAs are forecasting best-case scenarios instead of worst, the big boss glowed.
So, yeah — you could say that Stephenson is welcoming the Republican takeover in 2017. Perhaps he missed the part where Trump said he won’t approve the giant pending merger.