Franz Paasche joins Verizon as Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs

I’m excited to share that Franz Paasche will join Verizon as Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, effective November 10, 2025.

Franz brings more than 30 years of experience leading public affairs, communications, government relations, and social impact across both private and public sectors. 

Most recently, as EVP of Public Affairs and Communications at Columbia University, Franz led communications, government relations and community engagement at a critical time for the university.  I had the privilege of working with Franz at PayPal, where he served as  Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, leading global communications, public affairs, reputation management and social impact. Franz played a pivotal role in defining PayPal’s mission and values and  building the company’s reputation. During our tenure together, PayPal was named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune every year from 2017 to 2023, a testament to the company’s commitment to doing right by stakeholders.

Before joining PayPal, Franz held key leadership roles in communications, reputation risk management and law, including serving as the Head of External Relations for North America at McKinsey & Company,  Senior Partner at Fleishman Hillard, Managing Director of Clark & Weinstock, General Counsel of Market Data Corporation and litigator at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind and Garrison.  

Franz earned his JD from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and graduated with high honors from Swarthmore College.

Building our Corporate Affairs Organization 

We have an opportunity to redefine not just who we are as a company, but to fundamentally change and lead our entire industry. To achieve that level of impact, we need to rethink how we show up with our customers  and compete in the market. This will include deepening our relationships across key stakeholders, strengthening our reputation and shaping our culture rooted in our values.

That’s why we are bringing several teams under Franz’s leadership to create a Corporate Affairs function that is deeply focused on elevating our stakeholder engagement and connecting our value proposition and our purpose to the people and communities who count on us — employees, customers, partners, policymakers and society. 

The following leaders and their teams will join the Corporate Affairs function and report to Franz:

• Stacy Sharpe and the Global Communications Organization
• Donna Epps and the Responsible Business team
• Kathy Grillo and the Public Policy and Government Affairs team

In a world where trust and transparency matter more than ever, how we show up, communicate and deliver define who we are as a company. By creating a world-class Corporate Affairs function, we will take bold and responsible actions to drive growth and position Verizon as a leader with all our stakeholders. 

Please join me in welcoming Franz to Verizon. 

Dan