There are treasurers who win kudos when theeconomy is strong and the markets are surging.Well, that’s not so hard. There are treasurerswho manage to excel when simply tough timeswould be a relief. Then, there are treasurers likeEdward M. Dwyer. As treasurer of AT&T Corp. since1997, Dwyer has seen it all with the telecommunica-tions giant. When he first took charge of the company’streasury, AT&T was a darling of Wall Street, with astrong credit rating and a fabled CEO on an acquisi-tions spree. C. Michael Armstrong was gobbling up astring of mammoth cable TV properties that were to re-define AT&T as a broadband supplier of everythingfrom local phone service to Internet. When that strate-gy failed and the binge left the long-distance carrierstrapped with debt and teetering, Dwyer was chargedwith keeping AT&T solvent as it sold off non-core as-sets and returned to offering long distance service.Dwyer entered a new world of credit down-grades and a jittery–and sometimes outrighthostile–Wall Street.
Now, after having toiled for three years help-ing to transform the Bedminster, N.J.-basedtelecom into a leaner, albeit far smaller, finan-cial performer with an unburdened balancesheet, he has a new mission: Cut down the company’s re-liance on the capital markets. “The most important jobthat I can do for AT&T, given the uncertainty [in thetelecom sector and the economy], is ensure that we havefinancial flexibility so we don’t have to make sub-optimaldecisions,” the treasurer says. “The credo around here isliquidity and financial flexibility. Without it, you are atthe mercy of the market.”
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