Tom Gerke, former Sprint Nextel Corp. executive has been hired by H&R Block Inc. as their senior vice president and general counsel. Gerke is also the former CEO of Sprint Embarq Corp. He will oversee the legal strategy and activities at H&R Block.
“We are fortunate to add someone of Tom’s caliber to our executive team,” H&R Block President and CEO Bill Cobb said. “Tom has guided Fortune 500 companies through a variety of legal and regulatory challenges. He’s also great at helping companies build on opportunities. Tom is the right choice to help us lead H&R Block into the future.”
Gerke recently served as general counsel for YRC Worldwide Inc., a trucking company. He was hired there in January of 2011.
Prior to working at YRC Worldwide Inc., Gerke worked as executive vice chairman for CenturyLink Inc, which he joined back in 2009 when the company was known as CenturyTel Inc. Gerke helped orchestrate an $11.6 million deal to merge the company with Embarq.
In 2007, Gerke became the CEO of Embarq, which offered telephone and internet services to residences and companies in 18 states. He became the CEO after he served as the company’s general counsel and executive vice president. Before he was appointed as CEO, Gerke was also responsible for overseeing the wholesale markets group for Embarq.
While at Sprint, Gerke worked for a decade in multiple legal and business leadership roles. Those roles included executive vice president and general counsel before he joined Embarq. While serving as general counsel, Gerke oversaw parts of Sprint’s merger with Nextel in 2005.
Gerke worked for nine years in private practice before he moved in-house. Gerke focused on strategic corporate matters when working in private practice.
Gerke has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Gerke also has a Master of Business Administration from Rockhurst University and a law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law. He also serves on the Rockhurst University Board of Trustees.