NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Former Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Michael Capellas was named chairman and CEO of bankrupt telecom WorldCom Friday.

The announcement came four days after Capellas left his position as president and chief operating officer of Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ: Research, Estimates), the computer maker that bought Compaq earlier this year, amid reports that he was heading to WorldCom.

Michael Capellas, the new chairman and CEO of WorldCom.

WorldCom has been looking for a new CEO since the ouster of founder Bernard Ebbers earlier this year, just ahead of the revelations of accounting irregularities that plunged the company into bankruptcy.

"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," said a statement from Capellas. "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."

At a press conference Friday Capellas said he has no intention to see the various units of WorldCom split into different companies, and that he has received commitments from creditors that they want to keep the long-distance and Internet backbone provider together.

"You think of people who had the Internet right, the company was on the forefront," he said. "We intend to keep it together."

He said he couldn't be sure that more accounting problems from the past won't be discovered at WorldCom, but that he's confident there won't be new problems going forward.

"What I really need to focus on is doing things right and putting controls in place for the future," he said. "All we can say is we'll fully cooperate with every investigation that is out there and what's there is there. I can't say I've done an investigation myself."

Incoming WorldCom chairman and CEO Michael Capellas talks about why he qualifies for the position and what his plans are for the bankrupt telecom company. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Capellas succeeds John Sidgmore, who became the interim CEO in April when Ebbers left amid questions about $366 million in his personal loans from the company and concerns about its finances and stock price. In June, the company revealed it had improperly booked $3.8 billion in expenses; a bankruptcy filing followed in July.

Capellas' contract with WorldCom, terms of which were not immediately revealed, must be approved by the bankruptcy court. The company said it could seek that approval as soon as Friday. The company's creditors' committee issued a statement endorsing his selection.

"The creditors' committee fully supports and endorses the appointment of Michael Capellas to lead WorldCom," said the statement from Irwin Gold, the committee's financial adviser. "We are optimistic that the skills he brings will add significant value to the company and its customers."

Capellas left HP Monday, accompanied by a statement from HP CEO Carly Fiorina that "we've reached a natural transition point." But investors sent shares of the computer maker 11 percent lower amid concerns over Fiorina's direction for the company without him present.

Capellas told reporters that he continues to have a good relationship with Fiorina and that he was not unhappy being the No. 2 executive at the combined company, but he had wanted to again be CEO at some point in his career.

"It was a great job. There is something about being No. 1," he told CNNfn's Halftime Report. "You sort of see what jazzes me particularly about being No. 1 in a turn-around situation."