It’s official: Meg Whitman is your new CEO of HP, replacing Leo Apotheker after just under a year on the job.
Apotheker was tapped in September of last year to replace CEO Mark Hurd, after Hurd resigned his position amid a sexual harassment investigation. HP said that they found no sexual harassment violations as a result of the investigation, but did unearth violations of their “standards of business conduct.”
Of course, Meg Whitman had another high-profile CEO gig in past, as CEO of eBay. She also was a candidate for governor of California. Whitman is already a current HP board member, but now she is taking the reins as full-time President and CEO. This move had been expected.
Ray Lane has been appointed Executive Chairman, as he had this to say about Whitman in a release –
We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman’s caliber and experience step up to lead HP. We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead. Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution. She is a strong communicator who is customer focused with deep leadership capabilities. Furthermore, as a member of HP’s board of directors for the past eight months, Meg has a solid understanding of our products and markets.
Whitman inherits a company going through some tough times. Apotheker was ousted after HP stock fell over 40% this year. Last month, HP announced that they were spinning ff their PC business. And just seven weeks after the promising HP TouchPad tablet hit the shelves, they discontinued all webOS devices, which resulted in a $99 firesale of the TouchPad.
Whitman said that she is “honored and excited to lead HP. I believe HP matters – it matters to Silicon Valley, California, the country and the world.”