Meg Whitman steps down from HP Inc board as Uber rumours mount
Meg Whitman to remain as CEO of HPE
Meg Whitman is stepping down from the board of PC maker HP Inc, where she was chairman, with Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh taking her place. However, Whitman will remain as CEO of HP Enterprise (HPE).
She was made CEO of HP back in 2011, back when the company incorporated both its printers and computers business - now HP Inc - with its enterprise products and services business. The two companies split in late 2015.
Whitman's HPE was undeniably in the stronger position at the time, as it offers servers, storage, networking, security and corporate services, rather than PCs and printers.
This has been reflected in the company's share prices - with HP Inc's shares down nearly 30 per cent since the split, and HPE shares climbing by almost 20 per cent.
"HP has now been a standalone company for almost two years and I'm proud to have helped get the company off to a great start," said Whitman.
"Meg was instrumental in the formation of HP and in helping us to navigate early life as a separate company, bringing essential experience and continuity of leadership to our entire team," added Dion Weisler, HP Inc president and CEO.
"I will be forever grateful to Meg for her many contributions. She is a terrific friend and advisor and will remain so as we continue executing on our strategy of reinvention. I very much look forward to working closely with Chip as our new chairman as we shepherd HP into the future," he continued.
Whitman's step down from HP Inc's board comes as rumours persist that she may be leaving HPE too, in order to become CEO of Uber.
According to Bloomberg's sources, Uber has drawn up a short list of fewer than six CEO candidates, one of which is Whitman. Its sources suggested that Whitman had been meeting with Uber's leadership in recent weeks.
However, Howard Clabo, a spokesman for HPE told Bloomberg that Whitman was "fully committed to HPE" and planned to stay with the company "until her work is done".
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