WorldCom announces post-restructuring management plan

WorldCom Inc. earlier this month announced its first steps toward a post-restructuring management structure. WorldCom and substantially all of its active U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Searching for a CEO

WorldCom, through its President and CEO John Sidgmore, formally announced it is actively seeking a permanent CEO for the company.

According to a company announcement, Sidgmore's intent has always been that his appointment as CEO in April 2002 be an interim solution in response to the swift departure of WorldCom's former CEO.

When Sidgmore was appointed as CEO, his charter was to turn around the company and to restructure its financial position.

Sidgmore had always intended to bring the company to a point of stability and to hire a new CEO.

Sidgmore will remain in his current position as president and CEO until a successor can be retained, which the company believes can be accomplished in an accelerated timeframe.

At that time Sidgmore will return to his role as vice chairman. Bert Roberts will continue in his role as chairman of the board.

"I have concluded that having moved WorldCom through the initial phase of the bankruptcy process, now is the appropriate time for the company to initiate a search for a long-term CEO," Sidgmore said. "By returning to my vice chairman role, after the search is complete, I, along with Bert Roberts, will be able to remain active in a strategic capacity while our new CEO manages the day-to-day operations of the company and the overall bankruptcy process."

Board activity

Members of the company's board of directors, including Sidgmore and Roberts, will lead the executive search. The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors also will actively participate in the process.

As part of this process, WorldCom will retain a pre-eminent executive recruiting firm to assist in the search for a new president and CEO.

Additionally, WorldCom has been adding highly qualified members to its board of directors and will continue to seek additional members who bring a diverse set of skills to its existing board. C.B. Rogers Jr., former CEO of Equifax Inc. was elected to the WorldCom Board of Directors Aug. 29.

The company remains on track to restructure and emerge from Chapter 11 protection in mid-2003. Both the board of directors and the Creditors Committee support the search process and the new management approach.

In the past three months, the company has continued to make progress, obtaining financing commitments, adding new board members, appointing a new chief financial officer and a chief restructuring officer, and developing a plan to emerge from Chapter 11 in a timely fashion.

The management team remains focused on customer and employee communications.

The transition to a new management team will be seamless to its employees and more than 20 million worldwide customers.

The company states that the executive search will be swift and should help WorldCom emerge more quickly from Chapter 11 as a healthy, viable entity. Information about WorldCom and its restructuring is available online at www.worldcom.com.