It's Official: WorldCom Taps Capellas As Chairman, President And CEO

A formal press conference to announce Capellas' hiring was scheduled for later in the morning.

HP said Monday that Capellas would quit the company to pursue other career opportunities, fueling rampant speculation that he would take the post at WorldCom. The telecommunications company is fighting for its survival, after acknowledging several executives improperly accounted for billions of dollars in expenses in an effort to make the company seem more profitable and keep its stock price from collapsing.

After working as a top executive at Oracle, Capellas, 47, was hired at Compaq and became its COO, and then its CEO, following the ouster of Eckhard Pfeiffer. Last year, he led Compaq's efforts to merge with HP and became president of the combined company after the deal closed.

"I took this job because I am convinced that WorldCom has the assets, the customers and the people to regain a leadership role in this industry," Capellas said in a statement. "In order to do this, we must first regain trust and win respect. Accordingly, together we will rebuild WorldCom into a model of good corporate governance and management integrity."