Michael Capellas Joins Venture Capital Firm

CIO turned CEO Michael Capellas is now a venture capitalist.  The former CEO of MCI and Compaq joined private equity firm Silver Lake Partners as a senior advisor. He’s helping the senior leadership and value creation teams identify and develop new investment opportunities. He’s also advising Silver Lake’s portfolio companies on business matters. 

During his tenure as president and CEO of MCI, which he held from December 2002 through January 2006, Capellas led MCI through a huge reorganization and through its merger with Verizon. Since he left MCI, he’s been serving on Cisco Systems’ board of directors. Prior to MCI, he was president of HP, a position he moved into after HP acquired his previous company, Compaq, where he served as chairman, CEO, and previously as its COO and CIO. 

If you’re interested in reading how the world reacted when Capellas was named CEO of Compaq, check out this column former CIO writer turned headhunter Martha Heller wrote when it happened.

The National Endowment for the Arts CIO Michael Burke was recently elected chairman of the Grants Executive Board. He will hold this position for a year.

Arizona State University’s School of Global Studies appointed Avnet Chief Operational Excellence Officer Ed Kamins (at left) to its advisory board.  He’ll be mentoring students, raising funds, and weighing in on the research and education strategies for the new school.  Kamins has served in his current position since August 2005. Prior to it, he was Avnet’s CIO.