Capellas Leaving HP, Reportedly Candidate for WorldCom CEO

Capellas, former president and CEO of Compaq and the man credited with stabilizing the faltering company when he arrived in 1999, joined HP earlier this year as part of the merger between the two companies.

In a statement released by HP, Capellas said he is comfortable making the move "because of the progress of the integration, HP's market momentum and the strength of the management team."

Fiorina, in the same statement, said she supported Capellas' decision, noting that the merger had reached a "natural transition point."

The Wall Street Journal ran a story in its Monday edition reporting that Capellas emerged as the leading candidate to succeed John W. Sidgmore, CEO of the troubled telecom giant WorldCom, saying that the company's board has already signed off informally on the decision.

While WorldCom is not expected to make a formal decision for at least another few weeks, the company has reportedly already looked at a number of other candidates, including Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO of XO Communications and Gary Forese, vice chairman of BellSouth Corp.