Power Sellers Unite

[elgato]

He hasn't even been around for a year, and already reports are cropping up suggesting that Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Leo Apotheker will soon be replaced.

According to reports from AllThingsD and Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, HP's board of directors is nearing a decision to remove Apotheker as CEO, and hire former eBay CEO Meg Whitman in his place. Although both publications said that a deal is by no means in place between HP and Whitman, Bloomberg's sources said she could be named to the position initially in an interim basis.

Apotheker took over at HP in November. A former CEO at German software giant SAP, Apotheker was viewed by many as an odd choice for a company that had a major consumer-facing component to its operation, since as chief executive of SAP, Apotheker was heavily invested in the enterprise.

However, at the time, HP's board thought that he could be right for the job. In fact, HP board member Robert Ryan said in a statement in September 2010 when Apotheker's appointment was announced that the new CEO was chosen because he's "a strategic thinker with a passion for technology, wide-reaching global experience, and proven operational discipline."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20109493-17/meg-whitman-for-hp-ceo-board-eyes-change/#ixzz1Ygh6kRu7

[elgato]

Update:

"HP Names Meg Whitman President and Chief Executive Officer"

HP today announced that its board of directors has appointed Meg Whitman as president and chief executive officer.

In addition, Ray Lane has moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman of the board of directors, and the board intends to appoint a lead independent director promptly. These leadership appointments are effective immediately and follow the decision that Léo Apotheker step down as president and chief executive officer and resign as a director of the company.

“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 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.”

Whitman said, “I am honored and excited to lead HP. I believe HP matters – it matters to Silicon Valley, California, the country and the world.”

Speaking on behalf of the board, Lane said, “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.”

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2011/110922xb.html?mtxs=rss-corp-news

[elgato]

Update:

"HP’s New CEO Takes $1 Annual Salary and Lots of Stock Options"

Alongside the exit package for former CEO Léo Apotheker just announced, Hewlett-Packard also disclosed the compensation package for its new CEO, Meg Whitman. Here are the highlights:

•A base salary of $1 per year. In doing so she’s following the example of another well-known CEO who just stepped down from his job: Former Apple CEO and now Chairman Steve Jobs.

•An option to purchase 1.9 million shares of HP under its 2004 stock incentive plan. The exercise price would be equal to the market value of the share price on the grant date. The options will vest over eight years, but are considered fully vested only if HP’s share price rises by 40 percent or more. As of today that number of shares is worth $45.2 million.

•100,000 of those shares will vest on each of the first three anniversaries of Whitman’s anniversary of service, provided she’s still on the job.

•An additional 800,000 of those 1.9 million shares will vest after one year, provided HP’s share price has risen by 120 percent and stayed that high for at least 20 days.

•Yet another 800,000 of those shares vest on the second anniversary of her date of service, provided the share price is up 140 percent or better for 20 consecutive days.

•Whitman will also get the same annual cash bonus of $2.4 million each year, with a maximum equal to 2.5 times the target of HP’s existing incentive plan, which is tied to cash flow performance.

•If she’s fired, she receives a severance benefit payment equal to 1.5 times the sum of her annual base salary — a whole $1.50 — plus the average of her bonuses paid during the preceding three years.

http://allthingsd.com/20110929/hps-new-ceo-takes-1-annual-salary-and-lots-of-stock-options/

[luckyalive]

I wonder who she had to sleep with at HP to get that job and who would actually sleep with her because no one in their right mind would hire her. Her career at eBay was all based upon taking other people's ideas and incorporating them into ebay. Now she is in a business that requires innovation. I don't see her outdoing Apple's ideas. She should have joined with Microsoft since eBay use to brag how much they liked the company - even including logos on their site indicating that ebay was using MS technology.

[elgato]

"Five things H-P’s Meg Whitman should do right now"

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — While new Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman has yet to offer a comprehensive revamp plan for the company, readers of this column have offered a lot of ideas about what Whitman should do to help turn around H-P’s flagging fortunes.

The primary debate here on the Tech Investor message boards was over the pros and cons of H-P’s dumping its PC business — no surprise, since that was what this column had urged. Some of the ideas I agreed with, others not, but the discussion yielded an H-P strategy recommendation (laid out below) that I believe is coherent and achievable, and one that would benefit long-suffering H-P shareholders.

That’s good news, since Whitman, in her comments during H-P’s latest earnings conference call and in the company’s statement this week regarding its WebOS mobile-software business, has offered only a piecemeal approach to boosting sales and profit, even though she’s been on the job for three months. We keep hearing how executive salaries are justified because of the huge workloads these top managers bear, but, if Whitman wants to earn hers, she should already have a broad strategic plan in place.

Here’s ours:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-things-h-ps-meg-whitman-should-do-right-now-2011-12-10?reflink=seekingalpha