Whit heart Lane
As extensively reported yesterday, the HP board decided to give its CEO - Léo Apotheker - the boot after less than a year in charge, and replace him with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.
In the brief press release, Apotheker is only briefly alluded to in "the decision that Léo Apotheker step down as president and chief executive officer and resign as a director of the company." In other words, it wasn't his decision.
The rest of the announcement was reserved for bigging up Whitman, and the new role of executive chairman for Ray Lane. This latter appointment is crucial, as he's the one with the B2B experience, having been Oracle president a decade ago. Whitman's experience is almost entirely in the consumer space and, prior to eBay, not necessarily tech.
"We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman's caliber and experience step up to lead HP," said Lane. "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...
"We very much appreciate Léo's efforts and his service to HP since his appointment last year. The board believes that the job of the HP CEO now requires additional attributes to successfully execute on the company's strategy. Meg Whitman has the right operational and communication skills and leadership abilities to deliver improved execution and financial performance."
Do you get the impression Apotheker's communication skills weren't held in very high regard by the HP board? Clearly the bungled communication of the Palm/PC group/Autonomy announcement did for Apotheker.
