EchoStar executive Hamid Akhavan resigns

EchoStar executive Hamid Akhavan has resigned effective immediately, leaving behind several top executive positions within the broader EchoStar operating ecosystem and bringing to a close Akhavan’s leadership that drastically changed EchoStar’s operations.

The notification came via a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing tied to EchoStar operating entity Hughes Satellite Systems. That filing notes that “after discussions with the board of directors regarding a change of strategic direction, Mr. Hamid Akhavan, Chief Executive Officer, EchoStar Capital, President and Chief Executive Officer Hughes … and a member of EchoStar Corporation’s … and Hughes Satellite Systems Corporation … boards of directors, notified the company and Hughes that he will resign effective immediately from all positions with the company and Hughes.”

The filing states that Akhavan will “be available to consult” with EchoStar and Hughes through the end the year to “ensure an orderly transition,” and that EchoStar has accelerated Akhavan’s outstanding option vesting period from the end of the year to immediately.

EchoStar Chairman, CEO, and Founder Charlie Ergen will take over Akhavan’s Hughes Satellite CEO position, with EchoStar Capital set to fold into “Corporate Development” headed by long-time EchoStar executive Thomas Cullen.

EchoStar Capital was established following EchoStar moves to sell a majority of its spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX, deals that eventually totaled more than $40 billion in value and included EchoStar shuttering its facilities-owned Boost Mobile cellular service to instead run as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on AT&T’s network.

Akhavan at that time explained that the new division would be tasked with managing the financial return on EchoStar’s fiscal windfall.

“Once these transactions close, we will have the capital runway necessary to continue to expand our existing operations as well as the freedom to pursue new opportunities,” Akhavan said during his prepared remarks. “This focus on new growth avenues significantly broadens the aperture of our business going forward in light of this increasing scope of responsibilities for the company.”

However, Akhavan did add that the actual EchoStar Capital roadmap “is not 100% laid out at the moment.”

“Depending on how we see the market and opportunities can come to us, we’ll try to take advantage of every opportunity in the best way,” Akhavan said. “That’s our plan at the moment. Obviously, we’ll be more specific about how and where we deploy that capital, or any sort of distribution that could be decided in the future. But to start, we need to get all of that in place. The money is not here yet, so we have time to organize ourselves around how we would maximize the use of that capital.”

Some of that capital has since set in limbo awaiting final regulatory approval on the deals. EchoStar recently blamed that limbo for its need to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its Dish Wireless subsidiary, though that filing is not expected to impact its Dish TV and Sling TV operations, or that if EchoStar itself, its Hughes Satellite business, and its commercial Boost Mobile wireless service offerings.

Akhavan joined EchoStar in mid-2022, initially as CEO of EchoStar before taking on that title for Charlie Ergen’s entire operating empire, a title Akhavan relinquished with the formation of EchoStar Capital. Through that tenure, EchoStar battled ongoing financial uncertainty that eventually led to its spectrum yard sale. SDX Central