Capellas Scouts His New BattlefieldCapellas Scouts His New Battlefield

WorldCom's largest customers should expect a knock on their doors, and the person on the other side vows to enter with open ears on how to improve the bankrupt, scandal-ridden company.

Newly appointed chairman and CEO Michael Capellas, 48, says he plans to be on the road meeting one on one with customers. "There's nothing like personal touch," says Capellas, who resigned this week as president of Hewlett-Packard.

Business-technology execs are applauding the move. "Maybe this is the point where they turn the corner," says Dan Agronow, VP of technology for Weather.com, adding that Capellas gives WorldCom "a clean record and a fresh start." WorldCom hosts all of Weather.com's Web servers, and Agronow remains pleased with WorldCom's customer-service and network operations.

Many had speculated that WorldCom, which has 60,000 employees worldwide and 96,000 miles of cable, would be broken up and sold off piecemeal following its $9 billion accounting scandal. But Capellas says he intends to keep the company intact. "We are driving to get this thing out of bankruptcy as soon as possible," he says. "There's a lot I've got to learn," Indeed. He has no experience with bankruptcies or in telecom.

His top goal is to take care of current customers, but Capellas is quick to say that that doesn't mean WorldCom won't aggressively pursue new customers.

Capellas has the attention of at least some potential customers. He served as CIO of Compaq before winning the CEO spot in 1999. "It's a good, smart move on WorldCom's part," says Jeff Vogt, VP of sourcing at Brunswick Corp. "Capellas has credential on the streets, so that should help WorldCom regain some of its credibility."

Transforming WorldCom into a model company is another of Capellas' goals. "I feel an enormous sense of responsibility. I have thought about that a lot," he says, promising that WorldCom will be one of the companies to help re-establish faith in corporate America.

His experience with the Compaq-HP merger will be valuable in dealing with adversity and the unexpected, he says. Capellas says he learned to develop ways to relieve stress and stick to his principles.

After heading Compaq before its merger with HP, and then getting the No. 2 spot at the combined company, Capellas, an avowed rock 'n' roll fan, knew he wanted to helm again. "Nobody can say that once you've been a CEO, you don't want to be a CEO again," he says. "Did I always know at one point I'd want to be CEO again? Sure." Time will tell if Capellas was careful enough with his wish.