Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) said Thursday its Chief Executive Meg Whitman will assume the additional role of chairman, in place of activist investor Ralph Whitworth, who recently stepped down on health grounds.
The computer and printer maker also named director Pat Russo as lead independent director; and appointed Klaus Kleinfeld, CEO and chairman of Alcoa, to the HP board, thereby enhancing the board strength to 12. Russo leads the board's HR and Compensation Committee and is a member of the Nominating, Governance and Social Responsibility Committee.
HP usually separates the roles of CEO and chairman; but the decision to combine the roles is part of commitment to protect shareholders interest.
Whitman has been president and CEO of HP since September 2011 and a member of the board since January 2011; her arrival at HP was at a tumultous period for the company, which at one point proposed to do away with its core business of making PCs.
Under Whitman, HP has since refocused on PCs, and cut jobs in order to make it a leaner and efficient tech company. But the company strives to fend off a slump in the PC market, and to shed the baggage arising from unprofitable acquisitions.
Last week, market research firm Gartner said global PC shipments climbed a modest 0.1 percent year-over-year to 75.8 million units in the second quarter of 2014, after successive quarters of decline.
China's Lenovo continued to be the world's largest PC vendor in the second quarter with a 19.2 percent market share, followed by HP with 17.7 percent and Dell with 13.3 percent. HP, however, continued to be the leading vendor in the U.S., accounting for 27.7 percent of shipments.
HPQ closed Thursday at $34.43, down $0.39 or 1.12%, on the NYSE.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.