Oh Snap! New HP CEO Comes From Oracle Rival
The dust (and the lawsuit) may have settled, but that doesn't mean HP is giving up without a fight.
HP's last CEO resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. Though he was later cleared of any violation of the company's sexual harassment code, the drama continued as he tried to accept a position with HP rival Oracle. HP attempted to stop him from taking up position as co-President of Oracle by suing him. Though both parties later agreed to settle out of court, it's safe to say Mark Hurd's departure from HP was a messy affair.
However, while so many of us have watched the series of events unfold with rapt attention, there was a chapter of this story missing; who did HP plan to instate as its new CEO? Well, the missing pages have finally been recovered: HP last night confirmed that Léo Apotheker is the new boss.
Now, you might be asking who Léo Apotheker is, after all his name is not a well-known one. However, his position in the tech industry surely is. Apotheker was the CEO of Oracle rival SAP until February of this year.
"Léo is a strategic thinker with a passion for technology, wide-reaching global
experience and proven operational discipline – exactly what we were looking for in
a CEO," said Robert Ryan, lead independent director of the Board.
"HP has a powerful mix of businesses, products and services, one of the most
innovative cultures in the industry, and an accomplished management team who
have played a critical role in its success," said Apotheker. "I am deeply honored to be joining the more than 300,000 dedicated HP employees."
Apotheker will also join HP's board of directors, along with another new member, Ray Lane, Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Lane's election to non-executive chairman is another sting against Oracle, as he previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer at the company.
Both positions are effective November 1.
Source: HP
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"Léo is a strategic thinker with a passion for technology, wide-reaching global
experience and proven operational discipline – exactly what we were looking for in
a CEO," said Robert Ryan, lead independent director of the Board.
Nothing like a slap-in-the-face to Hurd lmao!
that looks a little like steve jobs?
He is German, this should be very interesting. Not having an American run the company will take it in new, unforeseen directions. Directions like respecting their employees?
Hes german? HP's looks like it might be making some quality products...
With WebOS on them (HP) and now Leo as CEO wow that is a perfect match.
"Oracle rival"? Sensationalism much? I mean, it's not like SAP is unknown, rofl.
Cheers!
nothing like a corporate bitchslap
This could be interesting.
We'll see how this works out.
No matter what this guy does as CEO he will still be able to say, "At least I'm not Mark Hurd".
I don't know why people think Germans relate to quality in everything. Their cars have horrible electrical systems (and they don't seem to factor in difficulty in working on them, in the design), and they aren't a major player in computers - software or hardware, compared to the U.S. .
They make excellent mechanical things, though. I only buy German cars (despite their incredibly poor electrical ability) because I love the way they handle, but that doesn't mean they are better than Americans at anything related to computers. Also, the Prussian culture, which symbolized and in a real way was the pinnacle of efficiency and discipline, is largely gone in today's Germany.
In fact, their tradition of making overly complicated things, that have problems for just that reason, doesn't bode well. On top of this, SAP has been getting slapped around by Oracle for many years.
I wouldn't make too much of this. The likelihood of this man being better than Hurd is very low, simply because Hurd did an amazing job in a short period of time. He's a hard act to follow from a stockholder's perspective. That's a tough job to take.
hmm Oracle buys SAP and sues HP...
it could happen, every industry is consolidating by eating the other fish int he pond
LOL so HP gets a man that was for all intensive purposes fired! (the board did not renew his contract) and Oracle gets a man that made HP blosom under his wing?!?! im thinking HP got the realy short end of the stick on this one... what are they using a dart board to pick out CEOs now??
The one that most folks are overlooking is the acquisition of Ray Lane as the non executive chairman. So Lane came from Oracle, where apparently he wasn't favored by Ellison, and Apotheker came from SAP, a long-time Oracle rival, and considering that HP is the second largest customer that Oracle has..... this could get really interesting.
Financial managers loved Hurd, but the folks who drive innovation hated him. Why? He's a one trick pony. His only strategy is to cut heads and budgets to make more profit. Not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but when you cut to the point where you're damaging your customer relationships, and have culled all innovation? Yes, his time to leave HP was about 18 months overdue.
So now the new management has to deal with a (excuse the pun ) Horde of Hurdites at the top, and an employee base ready to jump ship at the first offer. It's quite a challenge, and it'll be interesting to see how it all works out.