Hewlett Packard have been undergoing some radical changes behind the scenes with over a third of their board of directors replaced under new chief executive Leo Apotheker and chairman Ray Lane.
They are bringing in five new directors, including former ebay chief executive Meg Whitman. Mark Hurd, the former CEO left after a sexual harassment investigation and the board found that Hurd had not broken harassment rules, but was in breach of HP's ‘standards of business conduct'.
Hewlett Packard have said that the new board will bring ‘fresh thinking' to the company, including a strong skill set in areas such as telecommunications and international experience.
In the list of new directors, there is also Gary Reiner, former chief investment officer of General Electric;
Patricia Russo, former chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent and Dominque Senequier, chief executive of Axa Private Equity.
Kaufmann brothers analyst Shaw Yu said “This change was [about] two things – the handling of the Mark Hurd situation, which was very controversial, and that with a new CEO it makes sense to have someone new.”
KitGuru says: Many changes within HP this year, already.