John D Zeglis

Updated on Jan 24, 2024

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Name John Zeglis

Education Harvard Law School (1972), University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1969)

John D. Zeglis (born May 2, 1947) is an American business executive. He has served as the president of AT&T and the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of AT&T Wireless.

Early life and education

Zeglis grew up in the farming community of Momence, Illinois. His father, Donald, worked as a lawyer. Zeglis played basketball and golf in high school and graduated as valedictorian. He attended the University of Illinois College of Business for his undergraduate studies. Both parents attended the University of Illinois and Zeglis thought it was a perfect fit. While there, he served as the house president of Beta Theta Pi and was a member of Sigma Iota Epsilon. He was admitted to Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. He graduated in 1969, with a bachelor of science degree in finance. After attending the University of Illinois, he attended Harvard Law School, where he served as the senior editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude with a juris doctorate, in 1972.

Law career

Zeglis began his career, in 1973, at the law firm now known as Sidley Austin, in Chicago, Illinois. He became a partner five years later. While there, he worked on the defense of the AT&T account during the antitrust lawsuit United States v. AT&T, and when the case resulted in the breakup of the AT&T/Bell System, he helped restructure the system. With Zeglis' help, AT&T had successfully broken up into the "Baby Bells" by 1984. Soon after, he joined AT&T as a vice-president and general counsel.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants

In 2007, Zeglis helped found the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, an NBA D-League Team. When created, they were the first minor league basketball team in Fort Wayne since the Fort Wayne Fury of the Continental Basketball Association. The Mad Ants play at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Zeglis was a primary shareholder as well as the president of the Mad Ants. The team won an NBA D-League championship title in 2014. In September 2015, the Indiana Pacers bought the Mad Ants, and they became the Pacers' one-on-one affiliate. The D-League is now known as the NBA G League.