WorldCom Director Is Named Chairman

WorldCom Inc. named director Nicholas Katzenbach chairman and said President Rick Roscitt was leaving as the long-distance phone company prepared to emerge from the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

WorldCom Chief Executive Michael Capellas, 49, will succeed Roscitt as president, the company said. Roscitt, who is 52 and joined WorldCom in September, chose to pursue other opportunities, WorldCom said without elaborating.

Katzenbach, 82, a U.S. attorney general in the Johnson administration, will help lead Capellas’ effort to distance WorldCom from a $10.6-billion accounting scandal that forced it to file for bankruptcy protection in July 2002.

When WorldCom exits Bankruptcy Court, it will change its name to MCI and issue new stock. In over-the-counter trading on a “when issued” basis, those new shares fell 15 cents to $19.85.