Other Sprint executives have said they expect Sprint to capture quickly as much as 20 percent of the total consumer market for Internet access.

Mr. Johnson confirmed that his agency planned to meet with Sprint executives.

The top Sprint executives, however, will see a financial windfall because of the deal.

That would leave question marks around senior Sprint executives, like the president, Ronald T. LeMay.

Without the shelters, the two Sprint executives could face a combined tax bill of as much as $123 million.

Gary D. Forsee, a former Sprint executive who is vice chairman of BellSouth, also remains among the candidates, according to one person close to the search process.

"The government will never, never accept such penalty amounts," a Sprint executive wrote in a confidential e-mail published by AP.

But the company has consistently failed to earn a profit, and its most recent chief executive - Gary Forsee, a longtime Sprint executive - quit last year.

In the transaction that Ernst & Young advised the two Sprint executives to invest in, Sprint may have given up certain tax advantages itself.

With the merger between Sprint and WorldCom all but called off, the question is whether Sprint executives are going to stay and, if so, for how long.