Years in Industry: 42
Education: BA, Economics, California University in California, PA
Rutledge has seen many shifts during his time in the cable industry, but his ability to lead through change is how Charter has continued to thrive. In 2019, Charter’s total residential and SMB customer relationships grew to 29.3 million and revenues grew 4.9% to $45.8 billion. Rutledge still believes in the value of traditional pay TV, but its newest endeavors have quickly shown their worth. On the mobile front, Charter’s Spectrum Mobile began offering 5G service through its MVNO with Verizon and surpassed the 1 million subscriber mark. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Charter worked quickly to support its SMB customers, creating a loan fund to invest $10 million through 2021 in small businesses serving communities in need. The company also shifted to 100% virtual hiring and onboarded more than 3000 new employees during the pandemic. In April, Rutledge announced a $20 per hour minimum wage for all employees by 2022, up from $15, with frontline field technicians and customer service call center employees receiving an immediate $1.50 increase.
