AT&T CEO Stephenson ready to battle DOJ and win

AT&T and Time Warner, which are in the early stages of combining the two companies after their $85 billion deal was approved by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in June, got a wake-up call today from the Department of Justice.

Late Thursday, the DOJ filed an appeal to overturn the ruling. Moments after the filing, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who is attending the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, told FOX Business he's confident his team will prevail.

"The judge wrote a very thoughtful, a very reasoned, a very thorough order, so we feel really good," he said. On Wednesday, FOX Business was first to report an appeal by the DOJ was imminent.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
T	AT&T INC.	23.02	+0.19	+0.83%
FOXA	FOX CORP.	46.35	+0.65	+1.42%
CMCSA	COMCAST CORP.	43.67	+0.68	+1.58%
DIS	THE WALT DISNEY CO.	115.65	+1.38	+1.21%

A collected Stephenson said he wasn't surprised by the DOJ bombshell and said he is focused on business. "The merger is closed," he said, adding that "we're about executing right now."

When asked if he would take the case all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, he said, "Well of course, but we don't anticipate that."