Hewlett-Packard Co. — the machine concern rocked by playing missteps, joint espionage and allegations of sexed vexation in the chief flat — has settled its ordain in the safekeeping of an implausible savior.

Meg Whitman.

The Calif. GOP gubernatorial politician and one-woman worker who transformed EBay Inc. into a Web colossus has been broached to advance the Silicon Valley titan backwards to upbeat and hopefully place an modify to a decennium of joint dysfunction.

It's feat to be a herculean duty others hit repeatedly unsuccessful to achieve. In meet the terminal 13 months, HP's commission of directors has fired both of Whitman's predecessors after they steered the consort into whatever of its past woes.

Now those directors hit overturned to Whitman, who connected the commission octad months go.

But for every of Whitman's undergo and open prominence, whatever playing watchers feature the 55-year-old chief isn't the correct mortal for the employ at this grave time. They saucer discover that Whitman, though reputable in profession circles, has no undergo streaming a orbicular element company, especially digit in the interior of a field transformation.

"She's not rattling old with this industry," said Frank Gillett, a profession shrink at Forrester Research. "It's hornlike to undergo whether this selection reflects a country logical impact or not. The commission has understandably struggled in production the correct people."

Whitman replaces ousted Chief Executive person Apotheker, who was fired by the commission Thursday. Apotheker's 10-month term ended presently after he declared a ordered of restructuring plans widely panned by investors, including a advise to discharge HP's individualized machine playing — the world's maximal — and closed downbound its smartphone and paper operations.

In remarks during a word call with investors Thursday, Board Chairman Raymond J. Lane said the commission was "embarrassed" by how Apotheker presented the changes to investors and customers. "It could've been finished such better," he said.

In the months Apotheker was in charge, the Palo Alto-based company's hit dropped more than 40%, and the consort revilement its earnings projections for threesome straightforward quarters. Wall Street investors began to impart earnest doubts most Apotheker's action — a ontogeny significance of dubiety that the commission proven to conflict with its explosive designation of Whitman.

In whatever ways, missionary had presented herself the exclusive road to the crowning at HP. After losing the governor's race, she was presently hired by the coercive and well-connected Silicon Valley stake top concern Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Before that, she'd connected HP's board, incoming during a punctuation of disequilibrium mass Apotheker's appointment, which analysts said came after a precipitous chief see that lacked competent cod diligence.

Investors criticized the commission for ostensibly continuation that nonachievement by choosing missionary without an comprehensive see for a politician to change Apotheker, a critique Lane refuted, informing investors that "I can't conceive of a study discover there today I would superior over Meg."

"If you're the board, you hit to do something that's immediate, that's bold," said archangel Robinson, concern of Levick Strategic Communications' joint and open concern training group. "You hit to kibosh the injury with your shareholders, your customers, your employees. And sometimes it takes someone large than chronicle to do that."

Whitman grew up in the wealthy enclave of histrion Harbor, N.Y., the youngest of three. Her father, Hendricks Hallett Whitman, was a World War II stager who worked in the playing industry. During the war, her mother, Margaret C. Whitman, cosmopolitan to New Guinea with the American Red Cross to mend plane and automobile engines.

Whitman has spent a period in business, shepherding and commerce whatever of America's most priceless brands: Ivory soap, Keds, Mr. Potato Head, EBay.

Whitman gained her estimation by guiding EBay's raise to embellish digit of the best-known online companies in the world. Her term attained her large praise, serving filler her as digit of the most famous profession leaders of the dot-com era.

But her instance with EBay came with controversy, too, specially with a sort of less-than-stellar acquisitions, including cyberspace sound assist Skype and sell concern designer & Butterfield. In the terminal some eld before she mitt EBay, the company's meteoric ontogeny slowed and its hit toll faltered.

Whitman's semipolitical aspirations followed a kindred path. A dearie of the Republicans, she jumped into the 2010 Calif. governor's vie with a practical intend and an large semipolitical struggle dresser hard hardback by her individualized fortune.

Jeff Randle, a grownup authority to missionary in that campaign, said she carefully weighed her selection to accept the CEO job. One drawback: missionary has been outlay a aggregation of instance activity Mitt Romney in his 2012 statesmanly bid, and had convergent such of her instance and forcefulness fresh in the semipolitical realm.

"She weighed the negatives against the positives," and there were a sort of negatives, Randle said. But "she loves, loves, loves a challenge. And this is a Brobdingnagian challenge."

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