AT&T, an American telecommunications corporation, is the currently the 7th largest company in the United States by total revenue and the 14th largest in the world by market value.
It was on this day, January 1st, in 1984 that AT&T was forced to dismantle and separate out its long-distance company amidst increasing pressure over its monopoly status.
After the separation, service for customers remained essentially the same. However, only $34 billion of the company’s $149.5 billion in assets were retained. Only 373,000 of their former 1,009,000 employees were kept. And the recognizable bell logo and name were dropped. Yet, the company survived the hit and remains a major telecommunications competitor.