Ralph de la Vega

Ralph de la Vega S’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre is the founder and Chairman of the De La Vega Group, which focuses on investments in entrepreneurial startups. He is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc and CEO of Business Solutions & International. In that capacity, he had overall responsibility for the company’s integrated Business Solutions group, which, at the time, served more than 3.5 million business customers in nearly 200 countries and territories, including nearly all of the world’s Fortune 1000 companies. He was also responsible for AT&T’s wireless business operations in Mexico and DIRECTV in Latin America.

Previously, he was President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, responsible for the company’s wireless and business services operations. Before that, he was President and CEO of AT&T Mobility. Under his leadership, AT&T Mobility became one of the world’s leading smartphone and mobile Internet providers and expanded into new growth areas such as connected cars and home security and automation.

During his career, he has held numerous executive positions, including COO of Cingular Wireless and President of BellSouth Latin America. As the COO of Cingular Wireless, de la Vega was responsible for the integration of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless following the largest all-cash merger in US history at the time. As President of BellSouth Latin America, he was responsible for wireless operations in 11 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay.

He serves on the boards of American Express Company, New York Life Insurance Company, and Amdocs Corporation. He is the former Chairman of Junior Achievement Worldwide, a charity that teaches young people entrepreneurship and financial skills. He served for four years as the Chair of JA Worldwide, a charity that teaches young people in over 100 countries entrepreneurship and financial literacy. JA Worldwide has been recognized as the seventh-best Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in the world and has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize three years in a row. In 2022, he was named a National Association of Corporate Directors Top 100 honoree (top 100 director out of 23,000 directors in the US).

De la Vega has received numerous awards recognizing his leadership, including induction into the US Wireless Hall of Fame, the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame, and the prestigious Global Innovation Award from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. De la Vega has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and a master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University. He completed the Executive Program at the University of Virginia and received a Doctor Honoris Causa from FAU.

He is the author of the book Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life S’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre (Thomas Nelson, 2009).