WorldCom Shakes Up Executive Suite

As WorldCom's WCOM rank-and-file employees await confirmation of rumored layoffs, the troubled telco Wednesday told workers of a major reorganization of the executive suite.

According to a company source, the changes -- the first major shifts following the April replacement of longtime CEO Bernie Ebbers with lieutenant John Sidgmore -- clarify the reporting structure under Chief Operating Officer Ron Beaumont, splitting the company's worldwide marketing operation into domestic and international entities, and consolidating international operations under a single chief.

The moves, announced in a companywide email, also signal the departure of the company's respected marketing chief, Brian Brewer, and the reintegration of MCI's chief following the previously announced dissolution, planned for July, of the MCI Group tracking stock.

A WorldCom spokeswoman declined to comment.

WorldCom, buffeted by the woes surrounding the rest of the telecom industry, has seen its shares slide from 52-week high of $19.01 to as low as $1.08 earlier this month. Shares fell 4 cents Wednesday to close at $1.41.

As part of the changes, MCI Group Chief Operating Officer Wayne Huyard will become chief operating officer of MCI Consumer Services, in charge of all MCI brand residential business. All domestic business sales, including wholesale residential service marketed to consumers by other companies, will be headed by Jonathan Crane, a former MCI executive who quietly returned to WorldCom earlier this year to a high-level sales position.

In place of different interational operations reporting directly to Beaumont, international sales will be headed by Ed Tagg, an executive with international engineering experience.

As it installs the new international chief, WorldCom is apparently dividing its worldwide marketing into separate domestic and international operations. Brewer, who had been in charge of worldwide marketing, is departing the company; the acting chief marketing officer, solely with domestic responsibilities, will be business marketing executive Frank Grillo.