Cappellas' departure: What Carly told employees...

HP president Michael Capellas on Monday announced he would leave the company to pursue other opportunities, possibly including taking the top spot at troubled telecommunications company WorldCom.

CEO Carly Fiorina plans to take over Capellas' duties. No replacement is planned. The following is an email Fiorina sent to staff following the news of Capellas' departure:

To: HP Global Team

From: Carly Fiorina

For the past 18 months, I have had the privilege of working closely with Michael Capellas. Throughout this period, Michael has earned the admiration of employees and customers alike.
It is only natural, however, that as a former CEO, Michael would want to become a CEO again. Today we announced that Michael will leave HP to pursue other career options.

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 and our market momentum is increasing. He and I both felt that given our excellent progress, this was a natural time for his transition.

With Michael's departure, HP's four business groups and worldwide operations will report directly to me. We do not plan to fill the position of president.

I have great confidence in our management team and our ability to continue to execute the strategies and plans we have put in place. HP will report fourth-quarter earnings next week, and I look forward to giving you an update on our performance and our priorities for fiscal 2003.

On behalf of the board of directors and the management team, I want to thank Michael for all he has contributed to HP. I know that you join me in wishing him well - not simply as a departing executive but as a good friend who brought many talents and a lot of enthusiasm to this endeavor.

Carly