Vertical Bridge Names Ronald Bizick Chief Executive Officer

Alex Gellman assumes role of Executive Chairman

BOCA RATON, FL – May 5, 2023 – Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC ("Vertical Bridge") the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, today announced the appointment of Ronald G. Bizick, II as President and Chief Executive Officer effective May 2, 2023. Mr. Bizick has served as President and Chief Operating Officer since joining the Company in March 2022. Current CEO and Co-Founder Alex Gellman will become Executive Chairman and remain active in steering the strategy and investments of the Company.

As President and CEO, Mr. Bizick will oversee the firm's day-to-day operations as well as overall strategy and growth initiatives, working alongside the Vertical Bridge senior leadership team to support customers and their buildout of 5G infrastructure and emerging technologies.

"I am honored to take on this responsibility, and excited to continue to build the Company in partnership with Alex and our exceptional leadership team," said Bizick. "Vertical Bridge continues to lead on sustainability, give back to our communities, and provide best-in-class wireless infrastructure solutions to our customers. It's an exciting time to be with Team VB, and I look forward to this next chapter."

"Ron's deep experience building and scaling tower companies will be indispensable as Vertical Bridge continues to grow," said Gellman. "We are a private company with permanent capital, a veteran leadership team, and the scale and capabilities to meet the needs of telecommunication clients. Ron's promotion is part of an overall succession plan at Vertical Bridge. We are fortunate to have many talented people who will be leaders for years to come."

"This is a natural, planned evolution of the process that began when Ron joined the Company," said Marc Ganzi, CEO of Digital Bridge Group, Inc., who will now serve as Vice Chairman of Vertical Bridge. "He has the skills and experience to lead Vertical Bridge forward and will seamlessly transition to his new role as CEO."

Mr. Bizick brings 34 years of telecommunications infrastructure experience to the role of President & CEO of Vertical Bridge. He previously co-founded and served as CEO of Tarpon Towers, LLC which develops, acquires, and manages wireless communication sites throughout the United States. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Global Signal, Inc., a former NYSE-listed company. The company completed a successful IPO, acquired nearly $2 billion in tower assets, raised over $2.2 billion in mortgage-backed securitizations, and tripled its portfolio from 3,500 to over 11,000 owned and managed communication sites in less than 4 years. Prior to Global Signal, Mr. Bizick was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SBA Communications, a start-up that grew into a nationwide publicly traded company during his tenure.  

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 achieve the CarbonNeutral® company certified status in 2020 and has been recertified every year since. For more information, please visit www.verticalbridge.com.