San Francisco, Oct 1 (DPA) US technology giant Hewlett Packard Thursday named Leo Apotheker as its chief executive and president, replacing Mark Hurd who was forced out last month after a sexual harassment probe uncovered his false reporting of personal expenses.
Apotheker, 57, resigned as chief executive of German business software giant SAP earlier this year amid employee discontent about his cutting of 3,000 jobs.
Analysts viewed his appointment as a sign that the board wanted to continue expanding HP’s offerings to large businesses, an area where under Hurd it had increasingly challenged rivals like IBM and Oracle.
‘Leo 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 HP’s board, in a statement announcing the appointment.
Apotheker said: ‘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. I am deeply honored to be joining the more than 300,000 dedicated HP employees.’
The world’s largest maker of personal computers, HP also appointed former Oracle president Ray Lane as the company’s non-executive chairman.
The appointments of the two relatively unknown executives prompted a lukewarm reaction from investors, who sent HP shares lower in after-hours trading following the announcements. The company’s shares initially fell three percent to $40.80 in extended trading, before recovering most of the losses.
Analysts voiced concerned about Apotheker’s ability to transition from a business software company to a sprawling multinational giant with annual revenues of $130 billion deriving from a wide variety of businesses.
‘There’s a lot of work to be done,’ Joel Achramowicz, an analyst at Blaylock Robert Van LLC in Oakland, California, told Bloomberg News. ‘The company needs new leadership that can make aggressive, risky moves to inject new vitality into the enterprise.’
