WorldCom appoints new chief
Troubled telecoms group WorldCom today named former Hewlett-Packard president Michael Capellas as its chairman and chief executive.
Mr Capellas is taking over at the helm as the group tries to reorganise its operations and overhaul its accounting procedures.
Earlier this year WorldCom, currently mired in the biggest bankruptcy in US history, created a scandal when it admitted a 9 billion US dollar (£5.7 billion) accounting fraud.
Mr Capellas said today: “I took this job because I am convinced that WorldCom has the assets, the customers and the people to regain a leadership role in this industry.
“In order to do this, we must first regain trust and win respect. Accordingly, together we will rebuild WorldCom into a model of good corporate governance and management integrity.”
Mr Capellas’ appointment had been widely expected following his resignation from Hewlett-Packard on Monday.
Prior to his position at the computer firm, Mr Capellas was chief executive of Compaq Computer Corp, which was bought by Hewlett-Packard in May.
Mr Capellas replaces John Sidgmore as chief executive of WorldCom.
Mr Sidgmore was viewed as an interim replacement for Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom’s founder, whose high-flying ways have made him one of the central characters in the telecom company’s failure.
