Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (born Cara Carleton Sneed; September 61954 in Austin, Texas) is an American business executive, best known as former CEO (1999–2005) and Chairman of the Board (2000–2005) of Hewlett-Packard (HP).
Early life
- High school diploma, Charles E. Jordan Senior High School, Durham, North Carolina
- Worked as a receptionist at a small real-estate firm
- Taught English in Italy
- BA double major in medieval history and philosophy, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1976
- Attended law school at University of California, Los Angeles but dropped out after one semester
Business education
- MBA in marketing, Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, 1980
- MS in management, MIT Sloan School of Management under the Sloan Fellows program, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1989
AT&T (1980-1995)
Fiorina joined AT&T in 1980 as a management trainee and rose to become a Vice President.
Lucent Technologies (1995-1999)
Spun off Lucent Technologies from AT&T. Rose to become President of Lucent's global service provider business.
- On November 201995, promoted to Executive Vice President for Lucent corporate operations, reporting to Henry B. Schacht.
- On October 151996, appointed President of Lucent consumer products business, reporting to Rich McGinn, President and COO of Lucent.
Hewlett-Packard Company (1999-2005)
In 1998, Fiorina was listed by Fortune magazine as the most powerful woman in business, featuring her on its cover and instantly making her a celebrity. She remain at the top until 2004 and has been listed near the top in the following years. She has remarked that the ordinal ranking of this list is inappropriate.
Fiorina joined Hewlett-Packard Company on July 191999 as CEO, succeeding Lewis Platt. [1] She brought the company back from 9 quarters of missed expectations to meeting or exceeding its performance goals. She often referred to her efforts as an attempt to "Reinvent HP." During the general business downturn in 2001, Fiorina opted for 7,000 layoffs.
Throughout her career at HP, Fiorina made many speeches at tradeshows, meetings, and conferences. Fiorina approved the lease of two new Gulfstream jets. She proposed that HP pay to move her yacht from the East to the West Coast, but the company declined to do so. Her business travel included interactions with Hollywood entertainers and politicians. Her actions prompted the San Jose Mercury News to speculate that she might later run for governor of California.
She made a statement on January 14, 2004, when she and other technology company leaders met with Congressional members and the Bush administration to lobby them not to impose new trade restrictions aimed at keeping U.S. jobs from moving overseas. Fiorina said: "There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore. We all have to compete for jobs." For this, some characterized her as condescending and elitist. She responded to this criticism by publishing a clarifying op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.[2]
In 2004, she was named in the Time 100.[3]
Compaq merger
In 2002, Fiorina pushed through a controversial merger with rival company Compaq. HP's combined PC business was only number one for a short while before Dell Computer Corp (now Dell, Inc.) regained the top spot. HP's services have lost market share to IBM but its lucrative printer division remained profitable. Since the merger, quarterly results have been inconsistent, which led to several sharp sell-offs in the shares. The company's stock price in 2005 was off two thirds from its high in 2000. There has also been an exodus of top managerial talent from HP, mostly from the Compaq side, with the departures of Michael Capellas, Jeff Clarke, Mary McDowell, and the forced resignation of Peter Blackmore.
As of 2006, many of the original Compaq services have been outsourced.
Departure
On 9 February 2005, Carly Fiorina was ousted as chairman and chief executive officer of HP. The Board of Directors had previously threatened to reduce her responsibilities. "While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said in a statement. "HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future." Hewlett-Packard's stock jumped 7% on news of her departure.[4]
Under Hewlett-Packard's severance agreement, Carly Fiorina received a US $21 million in cash, which was 2.5 times her base annual salary. On March 8, 2006, two large institutional investors filed suit against Hewlett-Packard for violating its own severance cap when it doled out a multimillion-dollar payment to Fiorina as part of her termination agreement.[5]
Post-HP activities
In March 2005, Fiorina was considered for appointment as the next President of the World Bank, but she was not appointed to that position.
In a commencement address at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University on May 7, 2005, Fiorina said: "The worst thing I could have imagined happened. I lost my job in the most public way possible, and the press had a field day with it all over the world. And guess what? I'm still here. I am at peace and my soul is intact. I could have given it away and the story would be different."
Fiorina holds positions on the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. She is an Honorary Fellow of the London Business School.
In early September 2005, Fiorina was named a director at Revolution Health Group, a venture formed by Steve Case.
In October 2005, Fiorina joined the board of computer security company Cybertrust. Fiorina serves on the board of directors for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC). Fiorina is an independent TSMC board member and serves on the audit and compensation committees.
On 9 October2006, Fiorina released her book, Tough Choices: A Memoir, about her career and her views on such issues as what constitutes a leader, how women can thrive in business and the role technology will continue to play in reshaping our world. She then launched a book tour, with seveal appearances scheduled for Silicon Valley locations.[6] On 10 October 2006 she was interviewed on the Charlie Rose Fiorina asserted that her leadership was strong throughout, and that the Compaq merger was well conceived, but misunderstood by the Board.
Personal life
- Father Joseph T. Sneed III was a constitutional law scholar, mother Madelon Juergens Sneed was a portrait artist, has two siblings.
- Married first husband Todd, a Stanford classmate, in June 1977.
- In 1985, she married AT&T executive Frank J. Fiorina (he opted for early retirement in 1998). It was her second marriage and she now has two stepdaughters Traci and Lori Ann.
- Lives in Washington, DC, USA and Atherton, California, USA.
References
- Joann S. Lublin and Rebecca Blumenstein (July 22, 1999). "In the Upscale Fiorina Family, She's the CEO and He's Home but she enjoys the simple life". Wall Street Journal. (reprinted at CareerJournal.com)
- "Former Executive Bios: Carleton S. Fiorina". Retrieved 2006-01-16.
- "HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina Steps Down" (Press release). HP. February 9, 2005.
- "HP To Pay Fiorina $21 Million Severance Package". ECommerce Times. February 14, 2005.
- Peter Burrows and Ben Elgin (March 14, 2005). "The Surprise Player Behind The Coup At HP". BusinessWeek.
- Jeff Goodell (March 22, 2002). "Losing the HP Way". Salon.com.
- "Fiorina's Commencement Address". BusinessWeek. May 9, 2005. (transcript)
Further reading
- Anders, George. Perfect Enough: Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett-Packard. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. ISBN 1-59184-003-1.
- Burrows, Peter. Backfire: Carly Fiorina's High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard. Wiley, 2003. ISBN 0-47126-765-1.
- Fiorina, Carly. Tough Choices: A Memoir. Portfolio Hardcover, 2006. (hardcover: ISBN 1-59184-133-X, abridged audiobook: ISBN 0-14305-907-6)
Notes
- ^ HP's Carly Fiorina: The Boss August 2, 1999
- ^ Be Creative, Not Protectionist February 13, 2004
- ^ Four (MIT alumni) earn place in Time for 2004April 13, 2005
- ^ Fiorina out, HP stock soarsFebruary 10, 2005
- ^ HP Stockholders After Fiorina SeveranceMarch 9, 2006
- ^ On home turf, Fiorina feted October 20, 2006
External links
- Carly Fiorina official website
- Biograpy at HP
- Template:Nndb name
- Biography From Global Leaders India Summit 2006
- ZDNet - Video Timeline of Fiorina's Tenure
- Biography at Washington Speakers Bureau
- Summary Biography from Global Leaders