 breakup of the Bell System to the arrival of Mike Armstrong, Harold "Hal" Burlingame is the spider at Take Control the center of the web. As head of Human Resources, he naturally managed executive compensation, including bonus and option awards. Few officers other than the CEO spent more time with the board of directors, especially with the powerful compensation com- mittee. In mergers and acquisitions, he sorted out reporting relation- ships, compensation, and benefits. His approval was required for all executive promotions, and he was also responsible for all executive recruiting-by 1996, many of the company's top officers, including Mandl, owed their jobs to him. And when it was time to let someone go, it was usually Hal who wielded the axe, smoothing the path out with generous separation payments and even helping people find jobs elsewhere. So Burlingame was not only a close confidant of Bob Allen, for whom he had worked since the mid-1980s, but a sort of coach, coun- selor, and chaplain to most of AT&T's executives. Over the years, Burlingame had learned to be an extremely sympa- thetic listener. And he has the two qualities most valuable in a chief human resources officer, beyond native intelligence: He's frugal, and he's discreet. Mandl was counting on both when he called Burlingame into his office in mid-July and closed the door behind him. "Hal," he said, "I've been thinking a lot. I can't sleep at night." Thinking that this was the beginning of another "why doesn't Bob like me?" discussion, Burlingame leaned forward. "What is it?" he asked. "I'm leaving the company. I have a chance to run a small start-up and build something from the ground up. It doesn't compete with AT&T, and it's too good an opportunity to pass up," he said. Burlingame had heard this story before, not from Mandl, but from others. It was usually a ploy to renegotiate compensation. "Alex, we just made you president a few months ago. You have a real shot at succeeding Bob as chairman. If it's money "Hal, they're offering me a $20 milli