Michael Capellas

Michael David Capellas (born August 19, 1955 in Warren, Ohio) is the Chairman and CEO of MCI and formerly of Compaq. He left Compaq shortly after it merged with HP.

Early years

Capellas says he inherited his gritty determination from his father, a Greek citizen who fought with the U.S. Army to push the Germans out of Italy in World War II. After the war, the elder Capellas met and married his wife, Juliet, in Italy. The family move to Ohio where Capellas' Greek immigrant father had worked his way up from laborer to superintendent at the Republic Steel Corp. My dad had an unbelievable work ethic. He was intensely loyal to the company. He worked there for 30 years, says Capellas.

As an undergraduate at Kent State University, Capellas fell in love with computers. Shortly after he graduated from Kent State Capellas met his future wife, Marie Angelillo, a former nurse. The two married in 1979, and for the next 20 years they crisscrossed the globe as Capellas climbed the ranks of each company he joined.

Career

Capellas held 22 different jobs at six companies--including software powerhouse Oracle Corp. (ORCL)-- and then joining Compaq as its chief information officer. Within one year into his turnaround attempt at Compaq the company was stabilizing. Capellas had reorganized the company to make it more nimble, slashed expenses, increased online sales from $1 million to $6 million per day, and rekindled innovation. In the second quarter, revenues grew 7.5%, to $10.13 billion--after a year of stagnation--with Japan growing at a blistering 40% and Latin America up 29%. The company earned $387 million, compared with a $184 million loss in the quarter a year earlier.[1]

In July 30, 1999, Capellas helped in smoothing over the Microsoft and Compaq relationship which had soured over the years. His driving force resulted in Compaq's becoming Microsoft's key strategic partner for the release of its Windows 2000 operating system.

In December 2002 Capellas became President and CEO of MCI, prior to joining MCI he was president of Hewlett-Packard Company.

Trivia

• Michael and Marie learned to play golf a decade ago, and now she accompanies him on business trips that include a round of golf with customers.
  
• Capellases live in a stately brick house on a golf course in a suburb of Houston
  
• They have two daughter: Julie and Andrea
  
• Capellas is of Greek (father) and Italian (mother) descent
  

Links

MCI Resume

Forbes Article

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