Chris Gates is NextNav’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. Before his role as EVP of Corporate Development, Mr. Gates was responsible for all corporate finance functions from 2021 to September 2025, and led the Company’s transition to public company operations. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate and Business Development. In that role, he led strategic partnerships, contributed to policy and standards outreach, supported public safety initiatives, including E911 and FirstNet, and helped shape the company’s monetization and asset development strategies. He is also a named co-inventor on several patents related to NextNav’s technologies.
He began his career in finance and has broad experience across telecommunications and technology ventures. Prior to NextNav, he served as Vice President of Strategy at SkyTerra, a telecom company integrating satellite and terrestrial radio technologies. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College with a double major in Economics and Engineering Sciences.