Vertical Bridge Welcomes Angel Ruiz to Board of Directors

Appointment of 30+ year telecom veteran is latest sign of progress for U.S.’ largest private tower company with growing portfolio of 500,000+ sites

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BOCA RATON,FL – October 25, 2023 – VerticalBridge REIT, LLC (“Vertical Bridge” or “the Company”), the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, today announced the appointment of Angel Ruiz to its Board of Directors today. Mr. Ruiz has worked in the telecom industry for more than 30 years and served on numerous board seats before joining the Board of Directors at Vertical Bridge.

“We are pleased to welcome Angel to the board of Vertical Bridge,” said President and CEO, Ron Bizick. “His vast experience and background in the telecommunications industry, extensive relationships with carriers and telecommunications equipment providers, and deep understanding of leading-edge technologies driving transformation will help us further solidify Vertical Bridge’s status as an industry leader in communications infrastructure.”

From April of 2017 until July of 2020, Mr. Ruiz was President and CEO of MediaKind, a global leader in media technology solutions and innovation. Mr. Ruiz currently still serves as the Chairman of MediaKind. He also holds Director positions in the Liberty Mutual and Nsight boards. From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Ruiz served as the Chairman of the Americas for Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company, Ericsson. As President and CEO of Ericsson’s North American Region from 2001 to 2016, Mr. Ruiz grew the business from half a billion dollars to over $9B, setting a vision of growth and customer quality during an extraordinary time of hyper competition and consolidation in the wireless industry. Ericsson became the number one provider of telecommunications solutions and services in the U.S. and Canada under Mr. Ruiz’s leadership. Before joining Ericsson in 1990, he held positions with Sprint, AT&T and Bell Atlantic.

“Vertical Bridge is a dynamic company making great strides during an exciting time for telecom infrastructure, and it is a great honor to join the board,” said Mr. Ruiz. “As a private company at scale and with permanent capital in place, I look forward to helping the Company grow to meet the ever-changing needs of its wireless carrier, broadcast, real estate and other customers and allow them to deploy current and next generation technology and infrastructure solutions through flexible partnerships.”

In addition to his corporate positions and business development work, Mr. Ruiz served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of wireless trade organization, CTIA for more than a decade. In 2013, President Barack Obama named Ruiz as a member of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

Mr. Ruiz holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in management science and information systems from Johns Hopkins University.

About Vertical Bridge

Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC is the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure and locations in the United States, with a portfolio of more than 500,000 sites, including over 11,000 owned and master-leased towers and the nation’s largest and tallest collection of broadcast tower sites. The Company’s portfolio spreads across all 50 states and Puerto Rico and is comprised of towers, rooftops, billboards, utility attachments, convenience stores and other locations in support of wireless network deployments. In addition to colocation, Vertical Bridge offers build-to-suit, edge data centers and in-building wireless network solutions.

Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Vertical Bridge was founded in 2014 and is led by a senior management team with over 400 years of collective experience in tower infrastructure and related sectors. Vertical Bridge became the first tower company in the world to reach net-zero emissions, maintaining CarbonNeutral® certification since 2020. For more information, please visit www.verticalbridge.com.