Tuesday, October 5, 2010

HPQ Selects German Executive

The Hewlett-Packard board has chosen Leo Apotheker to succeed former CEO Mark Hurd as of November 1.Mr. Apotheker resigned as SAP chief executive earlier this year when SAP didn't renew his contract,having underperformed in license growth.
A speaker of five languages,he is known for traveling most of the year to visit customers.HPQ is said to need the high growth,high margin software business to augment its slowing hardware enterprise.Seen as a software guy who doesn't understand hardware,Mr.Apotheker is expected to lean on other executives until he gets up to speed.
The new CEO,a native of Germany who has been living in Paris,said software is the glue that will tie HPQ's parts together.HPQ is in a good position to advance in every software area.He will be spending time listening to the company's various stakeholders.
Investors didn't respond well to the selection,knocking the stock down after the announcement.They had been looking for an internal appointment.

No comments: