AT&T Corporation

AT&T Corporation
	AT&T Corporation's logo used from 1983 until 1999.
	AT&T Corporation's former headquarters at 550 Madison Avenue in New York City
Formerly	American Telephone and Telegraph Company (1885–1994)
Former type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: T
Industry	Telecommunications
Fate	Acquired by SBC Communications
Predecessor	American Bell
Successor	AT&T
Founded	March 3, 1885; 139 years ago in New York City, United States
Founder	Theodore Newton Vail
Defunct	May 1, 2024; 8 months ago
Headquarters	Bedminster, New Jersey, United States
Area served	United States
Products	Telephone services; Long-distance calling; Internet services
Parent	American Bell (1885–1899); AT&T (2005-2024)
Subsidiaries	AT&T Communications

AT&T Corporation, commonly referred to as AT&T, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.

History

The company was formed in 1885 as American Telephone and Telegraph. In 1900 the company introduced the Bell System. The company quickly gained a monopoly on the phone industry. The government was going to investigate, but World War 2 started, so they were distracted. In 1964 the name of American Telephone and Telegraph was changed to AT&T Corporation.

In 1983 the company was forced to spin-off the Bell System into seven new companies. One of the new companies was SBC Communications. SBC united a majority of the companies until 2005, when they bought AT&T itself (they would take the name of the company.) Another company (Bell Atlantic) would form Verizon.

AT&T Corporation Media

A Bell System logo (called the Blue Bell) used from 1889 to 1916.
Share of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, issued 20. December 1921
The 180,000-pound linear cable laying engine of CS Long Lines used for cable flow from storage to seabed.
AT&T Long Lines cable ship working on the cable linking mainland Vero Beach, Florida to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Typical maps, US to Venezuela cable route.
AT&T Basking Ridge "Pagoda" campus renditions for office complex, 1972
AT&T 550 Madison Ave building no longer corporate headquarters after 1992 (pictured 2021)
AT&T Basking Ridge complex prior to becoming corporate headquarters. Satellite image from 1991
AT&T Learning Center courtyard, fountain sculpture designed by Elyn Zimmerman (not pictured)
Theodore Newton Vail, bw photo portrait, 1913