A beleaguered satellite company on the verge of bankruptcy a year ago has become the Fortune 500’s latest success story in shareholder returns: its stock price soared 430% since the beginning of last year, including nearly 375% in 2025 alone.
EchoStar, which sits at No. 302 on the Fortune 500 list, released this Wednesday, saw a dramatic turnaround in 2025 after it sold its wireless spectrum to **** eX in September 2025 for $17 billion—with $8.5 billion paid in cash and then $8.5 billion in equity, or roughly 2% to 3% of the Elon Musk-led company. With $11.1 billion in **** eX equities after **** eX bought another $2.6 billion in spectrum in November 2025, EchoStar has gone from a limping business to a mouth-watering public market proxy ahead of **** eX’s initial public offering later this month.
In June 2025, EchoStar was reportedly preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The satellite company was under investigation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its compliance with federal obligations to provide its 5G service across the U.S. The previous year, satellite TV provider DirecTV abandoned its proposed deal to acquire EchoStar’s video distribution business because of a failed debt-exchange offer. EchoStar previously disclosed $500 million of missed interest payments as a result the company’s broader liquidity crisis, as seen in the FCC probe.
But the company saw a change of fate last June after President Donald Trump reportedly sat down with EchoStar president and co-founder Charlie Ergen and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to push EchoStar to begin selling its spectrum licenses. In August 2025, AT&T finalized a $23 billion acquisition that would add an average of about 50 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum to AT&T’s holding. **** eX followed up that deal with one of their own, agreeing to buy wireless spectrum licenses. Boost Mobile, which is owned by EchoStar, also became a long-term commercial partner with **** eX, agreeing to allow its subscribers access to Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite capabilities. The acquisition was mutually beneficial: EchoStar had a clean balance sheet, and **** eX would be able to boost the network capacity of its Starlink programs and 5G connectivity.
The **** eX news sent EchoStar shares soaring 19% in early trading, and the stock would triple its share price from the time of the deal to the end of the year. AT&T stock is down following news of **** eX’s pending IPO, with investors seeing a rapid switch to satellite internet compared to AT&T’s primarily broadband business.
EchoStar, which sits at No. 302 on the Fortune 500 list, released this Wednesday, saw a dramatic turnaround in 2025 after it sold its wireless spectrum to **** eX in September 2025 for $17 billion—with $8.5 billion paid in cash and then $8.5 billion in equity, or roughly 2% to 3% of the Elon Musk-led company. With $11.1 billion in **** eX equities after **** eX bought another $2.6 billion in spectrum in November 2025, EchoStar has gone from a limping business to a mouth-watering public market proxy ahead of **** eX’s initial public offering later this month.
In June 2025, EchoStar was reportedly preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The satellite company was under investigation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its compliance with federal obligations to provide its 5G service across the U.S. The previous year, satellite TV provider DirecTV abandoned its proposed deal to acquire EchoStar’s video distribution business because of a failed debt-exchange offer. EchoStar previously disclosed $500 million of missed interest payments as a result the company’s broader liquidity crisis, as seen in the FCC probe.
But the company saw a change of fate last June after President Donald Trump reportedly sat down with EchoStar president and co-founder Charlie Ergen and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to push EchoStar to begin selling its spectrum licenses. In August 2025, AT&T finalized a $23 billion acquisition that would add an average of about 50 MHz of low- and mid-band spectrum to AT&T’s holding. **** eX followed up that deal with one of their own, agreeing to buy wireless spectrum licenses. Boost Mobile, which is owned by EchoStar, also became a long-term commercial partner with **** eX, agreeing to allow its subscribers access to Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellite capabilities. The acquisition was mutually beneficial: EchoStar had a clean balance sheet, and **** eX would be able to boost the network capacity of its Starlink programs and 5G connectivity.
The **** eX news sent EchoStar shares soaring 19% in early trading, and the stock would triple its share price from the time of the deal to the end of the year. AT&T stock is down following news of **** eX’s pending IPO, with investors seeing a rapid switch to satellite internet compared to AT&T’s primarily broadband business.
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