Charting New Frontiers in Connectivity

Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board

Charlie Ergen co-founded EchoStar in 1980 and currently acts as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Today, he oversees EchoStar's long-term business development and strategy.

A prominent leader in the satellite and telecommunications industries, Charlie has received numerous accolades for his career as an entrepreneur. He was among the 2012 class of inductees into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame and was named one of Barron’s “World’s Best CEOs” and listed among Forbes "Top 10 CEOs” in 2007. In 2001, Charlie was honored as Frost & Sullivan’s “CEO of the Year in the Satellite Industry” and became the first person to win the Rocky Mountain News "Business Person of the Year” for the second time. Instrumental in the fight to allow American consumers access to local channels via satellite, he helped secure the passage of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act in 1999 and was co-founder of the Satellite Broadcasting Communications Association.

Charlie received his Bachelor of Science in General Business and Accounting from the University of Tennessee and his Master of Business Administration from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.

An avid mountain climber and member of the Colorado Mountain Club, Charlie has climbed all of the state’s 14-thousand-foot peaks, scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal. He enjoys spending time with Candy, his wife of more than 30 years, and their five children.

Chief Executive Officer and President

In March 2022, Hamid Akhavan joined EchoStar as Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Akhavan was most recently a Partner at Twin Point Capital, an investment firm, beginning in April 2018, and from March 2016 to April 2018, he was a Founding Partner of Long Arc Capital LLC. Prior to March 2016, Mr. Akhavan held a variety of leadership positions, including as CEO of Unify, Inc. (formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications), and CEO of T-Mobile International, in connection with which he also served as a member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom.

Mr. Akhavan has been a member of the Board of Directors of Vonage Holding Corp., a global cloud communications company, since 2016, and also serves on that Board’s Technology and Transactions Committees. In addition, since 2020, Mr. Akhavan has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Anterix Inc., a wireless communications company, and is a member of its Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. He holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a MS degree in the same fields from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

President, Technology and Chief Operating Officer

As President, Technology & Chief Operating Officer, John Swieringa is responsible for key technology and operations across the company and its brands, including wireless network development and deployment, engineering, information technology, customer experience operations, in-home services, manufacturing, and billing and credit.

John joined the organization in 2007 and has served in increasing leadership roles during his tenure. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of DISH Wireless where he was responsible for all operational aspects of DISH’s wireless business, including the deployment and management of DISH’s virtualized, O-RAN 5G broadband network, its retail wireless business, and its day-to-day activities. John also has led as Group President of Retail Wireless, Chief Operating Officer, EVP of Operations, Chief Information Officer, and VP of Application Development. He spent the first 10 years of his career working in corporate finance for DISH and other Fortune 500 companies.

Named a 2020 Rising Star by Fierce Wireless, John has also been recognized in the Denver Business Journal's 2015 40 Under 40 list, and honored as the 2015 Chief Information Officer of the Year by the Colorado Technology Association.

John earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, DISH

As Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Paul is responsible for all aspects of DISH’s finance, accounting, tax, treasury and internal audit departments. More specifically, these responsibilities include: budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, capital planning, financial oversight, external financial reporting, technical accounting policy, income tax accounting and internal controls.

Paul joined DISH in 1996 as a member of the financial reporting team. He has since held various leadership positions with increasing responsibility including Director of Accounting, Vice President of Accounting and Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. During his career at DISH, he has had key roles in significant debt offerings, acquisitions and divestitures including the “spinoff” of EchoStar Corporation in 2008. Following the “spinoff,” Paul served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller for both DISH and EchoStar until 2012. Before joining DISH, Paul was an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP.

As a CPA, Paul is a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado.

In his spare time, Paul enjoys boating, skiing, coaching youth sports and spending time with his family.

Executive Vice President and Group President, Video Services

As Executive Vice President and Group President, Video Services, Gary Schanman oversees the DISH TV and Sling TV businesses focused on market share and growth, customer acquisition, engagement and retention. Gary manages all aspects of the video ecosystem, including Product, Media Sales, Marketing and Programming. He was previously Executive Vice President and Group President, Sling TV.

With more than 20 years of experience in the media and telecommunications industry, Gary has built and managed multiple innovative advertising- and subscription-based video, broadband services and products for numerous firms. He’s led all aspects of the content and product value chain, including strategy creation, product ownership and development, go-to-market planning, P&L management and operations.

Previously, Gary held various executive and senior roles from founder-led companies and start-ups to large corporations, where he’s been responsible for product strategy, operations and digital growth. He played an instrumental role launching cloud- and IP-based products and services, and advanced advertising capabilities to drive additional revenue as Senior Vice President of Spectrum Video Products at Charter Communications, and in numerous Senior Vice President roles across Video, Broadband and Media Sales at Cablevision (now Altice USA).

Before joining DISH, Gary served as the Founder and President of GB Monday. He oversaw the strategy, design, development and operations of channels and streaming applications, while also acting as Chief Product and Technology Officer for Common Sense Networks and its kids streaming service, Sensical. Gary’s career began at Young & Rubicam as an account coordinator.

Gary earned his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor of Finance and Advertising from Syracuse University, where he currently sits on the Newhouse School Advisory Board. He enjoys traveling, playing guitar and tennis, and spending time with his family.

Chief Legal Officer

As Chief Legal Officer Dean Manson is responsible for all legal and government affairs of EchoStar and its subsidiaries. He previously served as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for over a decade. Mr. Manson joined Hughes in 2000 from the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, where he focused on international project finance and corporate transactions, and was appointed General Counsel of Hughes in 2004. Mr. Manson received a B.S. in engineering from Princeton University and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law.

Chief Operating Officer, Hughes

Paul Gaske serves as Chief Operating Officer of Hughes with responsibility for all revenue-generating activities across the organization worldwide. Previously, Mr. Gaske led the North America division at Hughes, including HughesNet®, the company’s flagship satellite internet service for consumers and small businesses; enterprise managed services; government and military systems division and the company’s manufacturing business.

Mr. Gaske joined Hughes in 1977 as a digital design engineer and has held a variety of engineering, marketing, and business management positions. Beginning in 1996, Mr. Gaske led the launch and subsequent growth of the Hughes satellite Internet service to its success today as the largest satellite Internet network in the world with more than 1.5 million subscribers across two continents.

Mr. Gaske earned a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master Degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. A member of Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Phi and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Mr. Gaske holds numerous patents in satellite communications and broadband networking. He was named the University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering “Distinguished Engineering Alumnus” in 2012. Mr. Gaske was inducted into the Space & Satellite Professionals International Hall of Fame in 2020 and named an Inspiring Leader by Inspiring Workplaces in 2021.