HP CEO Search Focusing On Internal Candidates

Who Should Hewlett-Packard Buy?

After meeting for three days, HP's board hasn't made a decision on naming a new CEO, but the directors are said to be leaning toward picking a new top executive from the company's internal ranks, according to different published reports. The board has eased out HP's last two CEOs, both brought in from outside.

The "usual suspects" are executives who have compiled excellent records at HP, which is the world's largest computer/electronics firm by revenue. Founded originally as an instrumentation company, HP has gradually become a technology conglomerate offering a wide variety of products and services ranging from printers and PCs to servers and IT services.

The company's new drive toward services, which has included a rash of enterprise acquisitions, could favor Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP's Enterprise Business unit. Her operation encompasses storage, servers, software and services. An HP executive for more than two decades, Livermore runs the $54 billion-plus enterprise operation. Also rumored to be in the running for the CEO position with a background in enterprise is David Donatelli, who joined HP about 15 months ago from EMC. He oversaw HP's successful acquisition of 3PAR recently.

Other candidates reported to be in the running include Vyomesh Joshi, who heads HP's highly profitable printer business and Todd Bradley, who joined HP a few years ago when the company acquired Palm where he had been CEO. Bradley has propelled HP into the number one provider of PCs, passing arch-rival Dell.

HP has been without a CEO since Mark Hurd left the post in early August after a contractor filed a sexual harassment case against him and the HP directors complained about his expenses. Carly Fiorina, who had been CEO before that, left the company. Fiorina is currently a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in California.

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