Mark Tubb

By FRED W. WRIGHT Jr.

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 18, 2000

NEW POSITION: Vice president of Investor Relations, Intermedia Communications Inc.

PREVIOUS POSITION: Director of Investor Relations, TECO Energy.

At first glance, Mark Tubb's timing seemed less than perfect. He signed on with Intermedia of Tampa just as the phone company was making a deal to be acquired by telecom giant WorldCom, which has said it will absorb some of the smaller company and sell off the rest.

In fact, Tubb began his work with Intermedia in the middle of merger negotiations, flying to New York City a week before he was scheduled to start his new job. "It was an intense but fascinating experience," Tubb said.

But Intermedia has long been talked about as a likely acquisition in the volatile telecom business, and Tubb said he knew what he was getting into. He said he did a "significant amount of research on the company before coming in. I think anybody coming into a new environment has to do their homework. I did. I was aware of the range of possibilities."

Born in Mississippi, Tubb earned a bachelor's degree and an MBA, both in accounting, from Mississippi State University. He also is a CPA, starting his career with Andersen & Co. in New Orleans (1984-86), then coming to the Sundial Group in St. Petersburg, focusing on real estate development, business consulting and the energy industry, from 1986 to 1991. Tubb was with Southeast Management, a consulting company in Tampa, from 1991 to 1992, then went to People's Gas from 1993 to 1997, when the utility merged with TECO Energy in 1997.

Tubb said he has long observed his new employer. "When you work in the business community, if you have any interest in the local business community, you follow other companies. I've been following Intermedia and other public companies in the area for some time.

"I've watched the telecom sector grow and expand. It's been a good story: a local company that's done well. That's what drew me to the company."

Tubb becomes Intermedia's point of contact with an investment community that has been skeptical about Intermedia's performance. "I spent a considerable amount of time becoming familiar with how the company was viewed on Wall Street from the investor and the analyst standpoint," Tubb said. "But Wall Street is Wall Street is Wall Street."

Tubb, 42, has a wife and two children. He is helping to establish a Central Florida chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute as a director and treasurer.

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