Legg Mason Capital Management CEO Bill Miller's Letter to MCI CEO Michael Capellas BALTIMORE, April 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The following was a letter sent today by Bill Miller to Michael Capellas: Dear Mr. Capellas, I trust that pursuant to the announcement by Verizon that it has agreed to purchase the shares of MCI held by Carlos Slim, the Board of MCI will insist that all shareholders of MCI be treated equally, and that, at a minimum, any agreement for MCI to be purchased by Verizon have the same present value as that received by Mr. Slim. As I indicated in my letter to the Board last week, events had made Verizon's $23.50 offer moot; this subsequent development confirms that. There can be no reason for the Board to support an offer to MCI owners that is substantially inferior to what Verizon has just agreed to pay for a non-control block of stock. Shareholders would be outraged if the Board did less than insist that the identical terms be made available to all other owners. That, of course, implies a higher value than the $25.72 cash price Mr. Slim will receive, since he will have the use of that cash shortly, while other MCI owners would have to wait until closing if Verizon offered the same price, including the same effective call option on Verizon's stock. Our rough calculation of the present value of what Verizon agreed to pay Mr. Slim, including the call, is in excess of $27.00. For the Board to continue to insist that the prior offer of $23.50 is sufficient and fair would be unconscionable. If presented with any offer from Verizon that is less than the present value of what they are paying Mr. Slim, we will vote against it. I expect the Board will do its duty on behalf of all owners of MCI. Sincerely, Bill Miller Chief Executive Officer Legg Mason Capital Management DATASOURCE: Legg Mason Capital Management CONTACT: Alison Mackley, +1-410-454-4209, Jeffrey Bukowski, +1-410-454-4211, both of Legg Mason Web site: http://www.leggmason.com/

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