Well, that is now settled. Amazing:
Carly Fiorina, one of the most powerful women in American business, was ousted as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday after disagreements over strategy at the computer and printer maker.
People are going to try and saddle Fiorina with the huge losses in HP stock under her tenure, which isn’t fair, but they will also blame her for distraction since the HP/Compaq merger — which is fair. As the old Street saying goes, lashing together two rocks does not make a bird.
The most entertaining part of this? Watching as HP tries to convince journalists that Fiorina wasn’t (effectively) fired. They are saying she resigned, while it is clear from Ms. Fiorina’s comments that she was told to leave or she would be fired. So far journalists are being swayed and they are sticking to the “resigned” script, but eventually they will figure out that she was ousted.
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I think she changed the culture at HP, though. BC (Before Carly), it was a relaxed environment of technological pioneers. They wore shorts and had beer parties on fridays.
AC (After Carly), HP got rigid, formal, and the loose environment was gone. People were scared for their jobs. And no beer.
As Carolyn, George and Donald would say in the post-boardroom meeting on The Apprentice: “Easy decision. Carly was a disaster.”