MCI President Resigns to Replace Retiring General Instrument Chief

MCI Communications Corp.’s second in command, President Daniel Akerson, resigned Wednesday to become chairman and chief executive of General Instrument Corp. by the end of August.

Bert Roberts, MCI’s chairman and chief executive, will assume Akerson’s duties until a successor is named, MCI said. Roberts, 51, will handle the company’s daily operations.

Akerson succeeds Donald Rumsfeld, who is retiring from Chicago-based General Instrument, a leader in transmission, distribution and access control technologies for cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting.

Akerson said he was attracted by General Instrument’s opportunity in multimedia.

Analysts said Akerson, 44, may also have been enticed by General Instrument because he does not have a shot at becoming MCI’s chief executive anytime soon.

Before being named president and chief operating officer last year, Akerson was MCI’s chief financial officer.

He joined Washington-based MCI in 1983, after working for American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Phillips Petroleum Co.

Akerson was also named a partner in the Forstmann Little & Co. investment firm, the majority shareholder of General Instrument.