BELL BUYER COMPANY Qwest Communications, Co-Chairman and CEO NET WORTH $200 million
AGE 50
ADDRESSwww.qwest.com In 1997, after 27 years at AT&T, Joseph Nacchio bolted from Ma Bell to take the
top job at Qwest. Now detractors argue that he's turning the New Age telco into a
mirror image of dear old Mom.
Qwest began life as a "carrier's carrier," selling bandwidth to all comers. Once
on the scene, Nacchio realized that Qwest needed business and home customers to
thrive. But he kept hitting roadblocks. First, regulators stymied a deal to have
Baby Bell US West resell Qwest long-distance service. Then in March competitor
Global Crossing offered to merge with U S West and Frontier, both potential Qwest
partners.
Undaunted, Nacchio pressed ahead with a $55 billion offer for both companies. A
compromise left Qwest with US West, its Denver neighbor. Legal barriers will
keep Qwest from selling long-distance where U S West holds a local-phone
monopoly--but the next-generation telco now has traffic to light its fiber.
BEST LINE "There will be supercarriers emerging over the next few years. We will
be one of them." FORWARD TILT Nacchio will have to prove that U S West is more than just another
boring Baby Bell; promoting dsl and Net access is key.
