Capellas vows to clean up WorldCom

Random redundo pay-offs a thing of the past

By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 16th November 2002 01:58 GMT

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Who says Alphacide doesn't pay? Mike 'Don' Capellas, former CEO of Compaq and chairman of Hewlett Packard was freshly installed at disgraced random billing specialist WorldCom today.

WorldCom disclosed that it had mis-stated earnings by $3.4 billion in June, although the figure is now nearer $9 billion. The former CEO Bernie Ebbers negotiated himself a $1.5 million annual bonus for life, and over $340 million in loans from the company.

But now there's a new broom. Capellas vowed to uphold an "unwavering commitment to the highest possible standards of integrity," and zero tolerance for miscreants.

He'll be paid $1 million a year for upholding the highest ethical standards, and the two top jobs at WorldCom: Chairman and CEO. Capellas helped himself to a $14.5 million parachute when he re-negotiated an exit pay-off last December that gave him a bonus for bailing out early.

In his short time at the merged HP, Capellas proved himself so indispensible that Carly Fiorina has decided not to replace him.

According to the New York Times, Microsoft offered to make Capellas No.3, adopting the title of President and COO. ®

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