Troubled technology giant Hewlett-Packard is
weighing the ouster of its recently appointed CEO, Leo Apotheker,
following a series of management missteps, according to reports
Wednesday on Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD
blog.
Both reports said that a leading contender to replace the German
executive was Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, who is looking to
return to a high-profile executive position following her failed run
for the California governorship last year.
Apotheker was appointed in a surprise move just 11 months ago
after his predecessor Mark Hurd resigned following claims of sexual
harassment. Though Hurd was cleared of the allegations, an
investigation found that he had fiddled his expense reports.
Apotheker's attempts to revitalize the world's biggest maker of
personal computers have been met with investor scepticism and the
company's stock has plunged 47 percent since he took over.
Pressure on the former boss of German software giant SAP
intensified after he announced plans last month to seek "strategic
alternatives" for the company's PC business, and buy British software
firm Autonomy in a $10 billion deal in a bid to move HP into
the higher margin business of selling software and services to
companies.
Apotheker also decided to shelve HP's WebOS business that it
bought last year for $1.2 billion and which had been seen as
the company's answer to Apple's iPhone and iPad.
