John W. Stanton

John W. Stanton is chairman of Trilogy Partnerships, a private equity fund that invests in early-stage growth opportunities in the wireless ecosystem, and Trilogy International Partners, a wireless operator in Central and South America and New Zealand.

Stanton led four of the top wireless operators in the United States over the past 32 years, and operated wireless networks in Europe, Africa, Central and South America, and New Zealand.

During the 1980s, he served as chief operating officer and vice chairman of McCaw Cellular. From 1992 to 2005, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Western Wireless Corp. Between 1995 and 2003, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of VoiceStream Wireless, which was acquired by Deutsche Telekom and subsequently renamed T-Mobile USA. He also served as director and later chairman of Clearwire Corp. from 2008 to 2013.

In the past decade Stanton has chaired or co-chaired the Business Partnership for Early Learning, the United Way of King County campaign, the Washington Roundtable and the Regional Transportation Commission. He presently serves as the chairman of Year Up of Puget Sound, a trustee of Whitman College and a director of the Seattle Foundation. In August 2016, he was appointed chairman of First Avenue Entertainment LLLP, owner of the Seattle Mariners.

Stanton serves on the board of directors of Costco Wholesale and Trilogy International Partners Inc. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Whitman College and an MBA from Harvard University. He is married and has two sons.

Stanton joined the Microsoft board as an independent director in July 2014.