PHOTO BY: RAY NG FOR TIME DIGITAL
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President and CEO, Qwest Communications International, Inc. NET
WORTH $170 million (est.)
AGE 49
ADDRESS 555 17th Street, Suite
1000, Denver, Colo.
BIO Brash and outspoken, Nacchio isn't your
typical telecom rebel. For a good quarter of a century, he worked
at AT&T, most recently managing its consumer and business long
distance services. But after being passed over for the top spot
in 1996, the native New Yorker left to run Qwest, a small upstart
firm building a cross-country fiber-optic network. By harnessing
the power of the Net, Nacchio hopes to offer low-cost interactive
services to businesses and consumers and challenge established
leaders--such as his alma mater.
1998 POWER PLAY If Qwest was once
known as a wholesale provider of bandwidth, it's recently become
a true, top-tier retail player. In March, it acquired
long-distance provider LCI International to become the U.S.'s
fourth largest long-distance firm. Nacchio is also striking
agreements (currently being fought in court) with Baby Bells to
resell Qwest's cheap long-distance service.
PLACE YOUR BETS Nacchio's nose for the news has helped make Qwest a darling on
the Street; its stock has shot up close to 150% since it went
public in June of 1997, giving the $3 billion-a-year company a
healthy $8.5 billion market value. While some think Qwest faces
stiff competition from data-centric providers like WorldCom and
is overvalued, it's still mentioned as a prime acquisition
candidate. That could be enough to make any wager on its shares
quite rewarding.
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