In another upheaval for the board of Hewlett-Packard, the company said on Thursday that Raymond J. Lane, its embattled chairman, was stepping down from that post just two weeks after his narrow re-election. Two other directors departed the board entirely, Quentin Hardy reports on Friday in The New York Times.
The move may give Meg Whitman, H.P.’s chief executive, a little more breathing room in her long and painful effort to turn the technology giant around. H.P. is one of the world’s biggest technology companies in terms of sales, but for years it has been marked with financial losses, bungled acquisitions and turbulence in the executive ranks and boardroom.
Ms. Whitman, who took over in September 2011, has said H.P. will return to modest profitability in 2014 and have robust growth in the years after.
“The pressure is on Meg,†said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Bernstein Research. But, he said, a housecleaning of the board “bought her a year.â€
Mr. Lane, who will continue to serve on the board, will be temporarily succeeded by Ralph Whitworth, an activist shareholder who joined the H.P. board in November 2011. He has been a champion of Ms. Whitman.
No successors for the departing board members â€" John H. Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson â€" were immediately named. The two, who barely survived re-election to the board at a meeting in late March, are expected to serve until May.
