IBM taps MCI exec for CFO

IBM today named MCI Communications Corp. CFO Douglas Maine as its new Chief Financial Officer, ending a 10-month search.

Maine, who ended a 20-year career at MCI to join IBM, replaces Lawrence Ricciardi, the interim financial chief.

Ricciardi assumed the role after last year's departure of Richard Thoman, who left IBM in June to become president of Xerox Corp.

Some telecommunications analysts said Maine's departure from MCI was surprising, since he had not yet been named to a position within the new company that will be created by the merger of MCI, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., and WorldCom Inc., of Jackson, Miss.

Analysts also said the long search to fill the post suggests Maine is slated to enter a small group of advisers close to IBM Chairman and CEO Louis Gerstner.

"Certainly, there were many successful financial people within IBM who could have handled the numbers part of the job,'' said Sam Albert, a consultant, analyst and former IBM employee in Scarsdale, N.Y. "I think Lou Gerstner was looking for another person to add to his inner circle.''

WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan will be the financial chief of the merged MCI-WorldCom. That deal, initially valued at $37 billion, remains subject to regulatory approval.