Apotheker Out, Meg Whitman Named HP CEO

Hewlett-Packard on Thursday confirmed that Léo Apotheker is out as its CEO, and former eBay chief Meg Whitman will take his place.

Ray Lane has also moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman of the board of directors.

"We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman's caliber and experience step up to lead HP," Lane said in a statement. "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."


In a statement, Whitman said she is "honored and excited to lead HP. I believe HP matters – it matters to Silicon Valley, California, the country and the world."

Whitman resigned as eBay CEO in 2007 and made an unsuccessful run for California governor last year.

Rumors about Apotheker's demise started making the rounds yesterday, with Whitman's name thrown out as his possible successor. Today's exec change-up is effective immediately.

Apotheker was selected as HP CEO last September as a replacement for Mark Hurd, who left amid a controversy that began with concerns of expense reports and then evolved into a sexual-harassment case. Hurd received $ 40 million in compensation, and later joined Oracle as its president.

Whitman joins a company in flux. HP last month announced that it would stop supporting webOS devices like its HP TouchPad and try to sell of its PC business. HP later said that it wants to spin off its PC business, positioning the division as a "$ 40 billion start-up."

Whitman recently contributed to PCMag's look back at the 30th anniversary of the PC. What does she think was the biggest innovation for personal computing in the last 30 years? Check out her answers.

For more, see What HP Can Do to Save Itself and HP Commits the Cardinal Sin of Dithering. Also check out the "Who Should Buy HP's PC Group?" slideshow below.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.