Tumultuous Hewlett-Packard is weighing pushing out its latest chief executive, Leo Apotheker, replacing him with former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, according to reports.
The company is also investigating whether or not to spin off its PC business, as Apotheker shockingly announced last month.
Both the The Wall Street Journal as well as Bloomberg reported that HP's board was meeting Wednesday to decide if Apotheker, who was named to the post less than a year ago, would be the latest head for the chopping block. The New York Times reported Apotheker's ouster was "expected".
Since being appointed, HP's stock price has nearly halved, and several of Apotheker's decisions have been closely examined, namely a $ 10.2 billion purchase of U.K. enterprise software company Autonomy and its decision to exit the PC business, where it was the market leader. Bloomberg also reported that the PC spinoff was being reconsidered.
Apotheker, who received a $ 1.2 million salary, formerly ran German enterprise software firm SAP and was criticized for not understanding the U.S. PC retail space, especially Palm and its WebOS division.
Whitman sits on HP's board, and analysts cited by Bloomberg said that she would make a good short-term chief executive for Hewlett-Packard. But Whitman, who was most recently known for a failed run for the office of governor in California, also was named by Sen. John McCain as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, had he become president. Carly Fiorina, who previously served as HP's chief executive, also failed to oust Barbara Boxer as the U.S. junior senator from California.
Apotheker was named to replace 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.
Oracle chief executive had long been a supporter of Hurd, who engineered a stunning turnaround of HP's fortunes through aggressive cost-cutting after being hired in 2005.
Hewlett-Packard's stock climbed 6.7 percent Wednesday to close at $ 23.98.
For more from Mark, follow him on Twitter @MarkHachman.
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