The Company That Bought Its Own Parent

A Washington courtroom forced the largest company in the world to break itself into pieces, and one of the smallest pieces eventually bought the parent back.

On October 5, 1983, Southwestern Bell Corporation was incorporated as the new holding company for a regional telephone carrier caught up in the court-ordered breakup of AT&T, following Judge Harold Greene's August 1982 ruling that dismantled the Bell System's century-old monopoly. What started as one of the smallest, least remarkable pieces of that breakup grew through the 1990s into SBC Communications, absorbing fellow Baby Bells Pacific Telesis and Ameritech, before acquiring its former parent, AT&T Corp, outright in 2005 and taking its name.

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Written and hosted by Ron Trucks. Research and editing by Rodney Russ. Sound design by Angela Cahoy. Music by Cody Martin and Soundstripe.

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