Top EchoStar Executive Hamid Akhavan Resigns

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2026 – Hamid Akhavan , head of EchoStar Capital and former CEO of the satellite company, resigned unexpectedly Monday.

Akhavan served as CEO of EchoStar for more than three years before being moved to EchoStar Capital in November 2025. That’s the new arm the company stood up to invest and manage proceeds from spectrum sales totalling $42.6 billion.

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He was also the head of Hughes Satellite Systems, EchoStar’s geostationary satellite broadband subsidiary.

“After discussions with the Board of Directors regarding a change of strategic direction” on Monday, Akhavan told the board “that he will resign effective immediately from all positions with the Company and Hughes,” according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

An EchoStar spokesperson said the company wasn’t commenting beyond the SEC filing. The filing was first reported by Light Reading.

Charlie Ergen , EchoStar’s founder and CEO, will take over as the head of Hughes, and EchoStar Capital will be folded into EchoStar’s corporate development unit led by Thomas Cullen.

Akhavan’s resignation comes days after two EchoStar subsidiaries’ filed for bankruptcy: Dish DBS and Dish Wireless.

The bankruptcy of Dish Wireless, which built out EchoStar’s wireless network and until recently operated its Boost Mobile brand, was the subject of some consternation among tower companies.

More than 170 lawsuits have been filed against Dish, arguing the company isn’t paying its bills after EchoStar’s spectrum sales. Dish and EchoStar’s position is that FCC pressure forced the sales, and the Dish isn’t entitled to the money, leaving it unable to pay through no fault of its own and thus excused from its leases and contracts.

Three of the biggest tower companies in the country are among those litigants, and they’re urging a U.S. bankruptcy judge not to let Dish Wireless’s case proceed as quickly as the company wants. They said it was an effort to shield the company from billions in potential liability from those lawsuits.

A hearing is set for tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, where U.S. bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez said in a Monday order he will consider whether to further delay consideration of Dish’s plan to sell its assets.

In a filing earlier that day, Crown Castle had asked Lopez to defer consideration of those issues until an already scheduled July 23 hearing.

Crown Castle, along with American Tower and SBA Communications, said it served Dish with discovery requests that the company denied, citing a lack of time.

Dish “should not be permitted to seek expedited relief on severely shortened notice while, at the same time, refusing to provide any discovery on the ground that they lack adequate time,” Crown Castle wrote.

Several other tower companies suing Dish subsequently signed on to Crown Castle’s request to slow down the proceeding.