Elliott builds stake in Deutsche Telekom and opposes T-Mobile US merger
Elliott has built a stake in Deutsche Telekom and is opposing a potential merger involving T-Mobile US, arguing the German telecoms group should prioritize shareholder returns such as buybacks. The campaign puts TMUS in play as a source of strategic friction, but the available figures show a growing business without enough detail to establish a decisive valuation or transaction outcome.
Financial Times reported on September 2 that activist hedge fund Elliott has accumulated a stake in Deutsche Telekom and is pushing back against a potential merger involving T-Mobile US. Elliott’s stated preference is for Deutsche Telekom to concentrate on measures that could lift shareholder value, including stock buybacks, rather than pursue the combination it opposes.
The campaign arrives against a backdrop of continued operating growth at T-Mobile US. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, TMUS reported revenue of $88.3B, up 8.5% YoY, with net margin of 12.4% and diluted EPS of $9.72. Those figures establish a profitable and expanding business, but they do not by themselves show how a merger would affect T-Mobile US shareholders or how much capital Deutsche Telekom could return through buybacks.
The names are connected through ownership and strategy. Deutsche Telekom is the German telecoms company whose stake Elliott has acquired and whose capital-allocation priorities the activist is challenging. T-Mobile US is the US operating company at the center of the opposed merger, with its revenue and earnings profile providing the financial asset that could be affected by any change in Deutsche Telekom’s plans. Elliott’s proposed mechanism is shareholder distribution, while the disputed alternative is a strategic transaction.
It is also unclear whether the merger is sufficiently advanced for Elliott’s opposition to change the outcome, or whether the campaign will instead become a broader push on buybacks and other shareholder-value measures.
Next, the key developments are Deutsche Telekom’s response to Elliott, any disclosure of the activist’s stake, and formal details or a decision process for the proposed merger. For TMUS, the next company-specific financial checkpoint is its next earnings release. The numbers that would clarify the setup are the deal’s valuation and funding terms, any announced buyback size, and whether management changes its capital-allocation or transaction plans.
The Elliott campaign puts TMUS’s strategic path and Deutsche Telekom’s capital allocation in contention, but the disclosed evidence is not yet strong enough to give the stock a directional read.
The immediate implication for TMUS is strategic uncertainty rather than a quantified earnings change: Elliott is pressing Deutsche Telekom toward buybacks while opposing a merger involving the US operator. TMUS’s $88.3B revenue, 8.5% YoY growth and 12.4% net margin show a substantial, profitable asset, but without deal terms or the activist’s stake size the evidence cannot establish which capital-allocation outcome is superior.
A formal transaction proposal, supportive Deutsche Telekom response, or disclosed buyback could quickly resolve the uncertainty in favor of one path.
CoverageSource: Financial Times · Published here WED, SEP 2 · 7:05 PM ET · the only report in this recordHow this is decided →
STOCK PHOTO · ANTONIO FRIEDEMANNEarlier context and later coverage are dated relative to this report. Automatically linked reports may cover a broader event.
No later reports linked yet.
Follow this story to find new evidence in your Following desk.
Price context does not establish that the story caused the move.
TMUS’s $88.3B of revenue, 8.5% YoY growth and $9.72 diluted EPS give Deutsche Telekom a profitable asset base that could support shareholder returns if Elliott’s buyback-focused approach gains traction.
The bear case is limited by missing facts: without merger terms, Elliott’s stake size or a Deutsche Telekom response, the campaign alone does not demonstrate a deterioration in TMUS’s operating outlook.
Kept as written · your side, if you take one, is graded privately against licensed closes after 10 trading days · nothing here is advice · How the Wire is made →