Former HP president may join WorldCom

Link: HP/Compaq merger going well, says Fiorina

In a statement, Capellas said that he was ‘comfortable making this move because of the progress of the integration’. He is leaving to ‘pursue other career opportunities’.

In May, Cappellas told delegates at Merrill Lynch’s Hardware Heaven conference in San Francisco that the new HP has just six months to establish itself.

Speculation over Capellas position had mounted after he failed to show up at September’s European IT Forum in Monte Carlo, where he had been due to present a keynote address.

Capellas’ position as president at HP will not be replaced. All executives that reported to Capellas will now report directly to company chairman and chief executive officer, Carly Fiorina.

Capellas was formerly the chairman and chief executive officer of Compaq. He joined the company in 1998 as chief information officer and also served as chief operating officer.

Timeline: Michael Capellas

• 1976-81 Capellas began his career at Republic Steel Corporation where he held various systems analyst and manufacturing positions.

• 1981-96, Capellas held several senior positions at Schlumberger, including director for information systems; controller and treasurer of Schlumberger’s operations in Asia Pacific

• 1996-97 director of supply-chain management at SAP America. While there he spearheaded a $1bn SAP implementation project at General Motors

• 1997-98 he served as Oracle’s senior vice president and general manager for global energy

• 1998-02 joined Compaq as chief information officer, before rising to the position of chairman and chief executive officer. He also served as chief operating officer

• May 2002 – Nov 02 Capellas appointed as president, following the merger of HP and Compaq.