Capellas became CEO and, in effect, turnaround manager of WorldCom in 2002, after the company found itself at the center of the largest accounting scandal in U.S. corporate history: $11 billion in misstatements. The restructuring was a shambles, and no one could have predicted that it would work so well, Capellas says. MCI, which WorldCom had acquired in 1998, emerged from bankruptcy in the spring of 2004 with its old name and greatly reduced assets.

And in mid-February, MCI accepted Verizon's takeover offer for $6.8 billion. Capellas has already said that he will not stay at Verizon. A month and a half ago, he told one of his acquaintances that he would like to get a CEO position at another company. However, in recent days, he has had more worries. Qwest Communications offered to pay $8 billion for MCI. Capellas replied that MCI remains committed to the agreement with Verizon, which is in excellent financial shape, but will consider Qwest's offer, although the latter's large debts and losses make it less attractive.

Capellas won't say what he'll do after he gets MCI off the ground. But he's widely tipped to be HP's next CEO, which has been vacant since Carly Fiorina recently resigned. HP may find a replacement for Fiorina before Capellas can leave MCI.

Whatever Capellas may do in the future, he is no stranger to challenges. Blind in one eye since age five, he took up marathon running in 2000 and has lost more than 45 pounds. The MCI CEO attributes his passion, according to former colleagues, to the stress-busting benefits of running.

"He's much calmer under pressure than most people I know," says Benjamin Rosen, former chairman of Compaq.

Capellas joined Compaq in August 1998 as senior vice president in charge of domestic computer sales. Before that, he worked at Schlumberger, the U.S. division of SAP , and Oracle. In 1999, he became CEO of Compaq.

Capellas, who is demanding of his employees, knows how to defuse tense situations that arise, for example, during a discussion of financial figures on a conference call with investment bank analysts. He would burst into a meeting with his deputies and say, “Guys, relax,” and during the meeting, he would tap out a rock-and-roll rhythm with his fingers, recalls Jeffrey Clark, a former CFO of Compaq.

Capellas's tenure at Compaq was too short, and not everyone agrees with his merits in that position. Some of the personnel decisions he made at Compaq later turned out to be wrong. However, having reduced the company's costs, Capellas agreed to sell it to HP for $19 billion.

Capellas had a hard time convincing Compaq shareholders that he was making the right decision. Investors responded to the deal by lowering Compaq's stock price. Capellas himself became HP's president for a very short time.

In agreeing to lead the restructuring of WorldCom, Capellas took a huge risk. He had to deal with judges, court-appointed administrators, a credit committee, a divided board of directors, reassuring 60,000 employees who had suddenly lost confidence in the future, millions of frightened consumers, and thousands of angry investors.

Just before the WorldCom press conference where his appointment was to be announced, Capellas considered accepting Microsoft's offer instead, says one of his acquaintances.

But he quickly learned the ropes and pulled WorldCom out of a near-hopeless situation. “We lived in hell for two and a half years,” recalls Dennis Beresford, one of MCI’s directors. Board meetings began at 8 a.m.—often after a late dinner the night before—but Capellas always showed up at the office before the rest of the board.

Capellas accomplished many things at MCI, but some problems remained, says Lisa Pierce, an analyst at Forrester Research. For example, he was unable to integrate the 60 carriers and networks that WorldCom acquired in the late 1990s. “Verizon has that opportunity now,” says Pierce.

As with Compaq, Capellas's tenure at MCI was too short to turn it into a growth company. "It's one thing to fix something, and quite another to put a company on a growth track," says Raoul Katz, chief executive and president of telecom consulting firm Adventis.

There were some obvious blunders, too. A year ago, after just seven months at the company, Richard Rosquith, MCI's president and CEO, quit. The telecom veteran left because his position was effectively eliminated as a result of management changes.

Capellas had to run MCI with Richard Breeden, the former chairman of the SEC. Breeden had been appointed MCI manager by a court order. When MCI's board of directors, deciding that they wanted Capellas, offered him a generous contract, Breeden balked at the terms, and Capellas was forced to work for two weeks without pay. In the end, Breeden managed to cut Capellas's promised bonus by $6 million.

That didn't stop Breeden and Capellas from finding common ground. Capellas once even lent Breeden a king costume he'd bought for a corporate Halloween party. Capellas himself donned a Merlin costume. "I knighted him with a wand, like Richard the Lionheart," he joked. (WSJ, 02/15/2005, 02/25/2005, Tatyana Bochkareva)

I will give the company into good hands