HP ousts Carly

Hewlett-Packard has ousted Carly Fiorina, its Chairman and CEO. She had always been criticized for pushing through HP’s merger with Compaq.

Fiorina, who joined HP as CEO in 1999, became a lightning rod for criticism from investors and some in the Silicon Valley establishment for pushing through the 2002 merger with rival PC maker Compaq.

Critics, including family members of HP founders William Hewlett and David Packard, argued that the merger diluted the value of HP’s crown jewel, its profitable printer and imaging business.

[source: Reuters]

The disillusionment within the company and its investors was such that immediately after the announcement of Fiorina’s ouster, HP’s stock jumped up 10 percent!!

Incidentally, Carly Fiorina was considered to be the most powerful businesswoman in the world (and 10th most powerful woman) in 2004 by Forbes.com.

As an aside, the same Forbes.com considered Sonia Gandhi to be the 3^rd most powerful woman in the world in 2004!!