Michael David Capellas (born August 19, 1955 in
WarrenWarren is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Trumbull County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio, approximately 14 miles northwest of Youngstown and 15 miles west of the Pennsylvania state line....
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
)
has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Data Corporation since September 2007. He was previously Chairman and CEO of Compaq Computer Corporation, President of the post-merger
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. HP has its United States offices at the former old Compaq Campus in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Latin America offices in Miami-Dade County, Florida,...
, President and CEO of WorldCom (later MCI), and Acting CEO of
Serena SoftwareSerena Software Inc is an application lifecycle management software company headquartered in Redwood City, California. It was founded in June 1980 by Doug Troxel in San Francisco....
.
Capellas says he inherited his gritty determination from his father, a
GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
citizen who fought with the Greek Army against the
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Michael David Capellas (born August 19, 1955 in
WarrenWarren is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Trumbull County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio, approximately 14 miles northwest of Youngstown and 15 miles west of the Pennsylvania state line....
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
)
has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Data Corporation since September 2007. He was previously Chairman and CEO of Compaq Computer Corporation, President of the post-merger
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. HP has its United States offices at the former old Compaq Campus in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Latin America offices in Miami-Dade County, Florida,...
, President and CEO of WorldCom (later MCI), and Acting CEO of
Serena SoftwareSerena Software Inc is an application lifecycle management software company headquartered in Redwood City, California. It was founded in June 1980 by Doug Troxel in San Francisco....
.
Early years
Capellas says he inherited his gritty determination from his father, a
GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
citizen who fought with the Greek Army against the
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war, the elder Capellas met and married his wife, Juliet, in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. The family then emigrated to
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
where Capellas' father worked his way up from laborer to superintendent at the
Republic Steel CorpRepublic Steel was once the third largest steel producer in the United States.The Republic Iron and Steel Company was founded in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1899....
.
My dad had an unbelievable work ethic. He was intensely loyal to the company. He worked there for 30 years, says Capellas.
As an undergraduate at
Kent State UniversityKent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, USA. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
, Capellas developed an interest in computers. Shortly after he graduated with a BBA from Kent State, Capellas met his future wife, Marie Angelillo, a former nurse. The two married in 1979, and for the next 20 years they traveled around the world as Capellas climbed the ranks of each company he joined.
Corporate World
As Chairman and CEO of Compaq Computer Corporation between 1999 and 2001, Capellas helped repair the relationship between
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
and Compaq, which had eroded over the years. His efforts resulted in Compaq becoming Microsoft's key strategic partner for the release of its
Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on business desktops, notebook computers, and servers. Released on February 17, 2000, it was the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the final release of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation...
operating system. In 2001, Capellas led Compaq into an acquisition by
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company , commonly referred to as HP, is a technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. HP has its United States offices at the former old Compaq Campus in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, Latin America offices in Miami-Dade County, Florida,...
, but the deal was delayed for eight months because of a proxy and boardroom battle within HP.
Finally, on May 3, 2002, Hewlett-Packard announced approval of the acquisition and Capellas became president of the post-merger Hewlett-Packard, under CEO
Carly FiorinaCara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina is an American businesswoman. Fiorina served as chief executive officer at Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005...
, for six months to ease the integration of the two companies.
In December 2002, Capellas became President and CEO of WorldCom (later
MCIMCI may refer to:* 1101, as Roman numerals*mCi, millicurie, 1/1000 of a curie, a non-SI unit of radioactivity, 1 mCi = 3.7×107 decays per second or becquerels....
), he was inducted into the Warren City Schools Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. He stepped down as CEO after the Verizon merger in 2006.
In December 2006, Capellas was appointed acting CEO of
Serena SoftwareSerena Software Inc is an application lifecycle management software company headquartered in Redwood City, California. It was founded in June 1980 by Doug Troxel in San Francisco....
, selected by
Silver LakeSilver Lake may refer to:Places*Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California*Silver Lake, San Bernardino County, California*Silver Lake, Amador County, California, former name of Plasse, California*Silver Lake, Florida*Silver Lake, Indiana*Silver Lake, Kansas...
, the company that took Serena private in March 2006.
On July 10, 2007, Capellas was identified as the new CEO of First Data Corporation. The position was to become effective upon the completion of the leveraged buy out (LBO) of First Data by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co..
He is also on the
Board of DirectorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. The body sometimes has a different name, such as board of trustees, board of governors, board of managers, or executive board...
for
Cisco SystemsCisco Systems, Inc. is a multinational corporation with more than 65,000 employees and annual revenue of US$36.10 billion as of 2009. Headquartered in San Jose, California, it designs and sells networking and communications technology and services....
, and national board of the
Boys and Girls Clubs of AmericaBoys & Girls Clubs of America is a national organization whose mission is to "enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens." The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United...
. He was also a Senior Advisor for
Silver Lake PartnersSilver Lake is an US-based private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries...
, an investment firm that focuses on large scale investments in technology and related industries.
Trivia
- Michael and Marie learned to play golf a decade ago, and now she accompanies him on business trips that include a round of golf with customers.
- When with Compaq Computer, the Capellases lived in a stately brick house adjacent to a golf course in a suburb of Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
- They have two daughters: Juliet and Andrea
- Capellas is of Greek
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
(father) and ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
(mother) descent
- Capellas is blind in his left eye.
External links