NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hewlett-Packard Co. President Michael Capellas is leaving the company and may be heading to WorldCom Inc. to succeed departing CEO John Sidgmore.

HP said in a brief statement Monday that the former CEO of Compaq Computer Corp. is leaving the merged computer maker to pursue other business opportunities.

Capellas led Compaq before its merger with HP.

"We've reached a natural transition point. Michael made a commitment to see the merger through, and now thanks to the hard work of the entire team, we are meeting or exceeding all of our integration targets," HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina said.

Capellas is being considered for the CEO position at WorldCom, a person familiar with the situation told CNNfn Monday. The person added that XO Communications CEO Daniel Akerson and BellSouth Vice Chairman Gary Forsee also have been in contention for the WorldCom post.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that WorldCom's board has informally "signed off" on Capellas for the job.

WorldCom officials were not immediately available for comment.

HP (HPQ: down $1.95 to $14.73, Research, Estimates) stock tumbled after the announcement.

Steven Milunovich, who covers Hewlett-Packard for Merrill Lynch, said the departure is negative for the company.

"Capellas focuses on the company's operations; he has a good feel for the industry and the steps HP needs to take to be more competitive," Milunovich told clients Monday. "He demonstrated his solid understanding of HP's operations on the last earnings call."

Investors, Milunovich said, may doubt that Fiorina "can handle such a big job herself."

Hewlett-Packard said that Capellas's departure was "not unexpected" considering that "his compensation incentivized him to leave" within a year of the merger's completion.

Still, until HP announced his departure, HP portrayed the 47-year-old Capellas as a permanent part of the company's management, not a temp.

But a source who used to work closely with Capellas told CNNfn that the former Compaq CEO was treated like "the hired help" at the new HP.

The Journal also said WorldCom is moving to seize assets of ex-CEO Bernard Ebbers that were pledged as collateral for his $415 million personal loan from the company.

The assets include a half million acres of timberland throughout the South, a Canadian cattle ranch, and a yacht-building business in Savannah, Ga., the paper reported. But a drop in value of the assets could leave the company forced to take a write-down of as much as $200 million, according to the report.

The paper said the Capellas appointment still needs a number of different approvals because WorldCom is operating under bankruptcy court protection. But the paper said the five creditors' committee representatives on the search panel at WorldCom "are all enthusiastic" about Capellas, the same person was quoted as telling the newspaper.

Sidgmore, who has been leading the search for his replacement since he announced in September he would be stepping aside, also is lobbying heavily for Capellas, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Last year, Capellas sold Compaq to HP in a $19 billion deal that met intense opposition from some investors.  

-- Reuters contributed to this report.