Who's In, Who's Out In HP's Board Reshuffle

Page 1 of 3

HP's board of directors was vilified for its handling of the Mark Hurd situation and faces a pending shareholder lawsuit over the matter. In mid-January, ostensibly in an effort to effect a fresh start, HP reshuffled its board, bringing in five new directors and revealing that four incumbents won't be returning.

Raymond J. Lane, non-executive chairman of HP's board of directors, said the reshuffle is aimed at bringing a fresh outlook to the proceedings.

"Each is a widely respected and deeply experienced business leader, and together they will provide our board and management team with new insight and perspectives relating to HP’s business and the rapidly changing technology industry," Lane said in a Jan. 20 statement.

Following is a look at the backgrounds of the outgoing and incoming HP board directors.

OUT: Lucille S. Salhany

Board member since 2002

Salhany, who in 1993 became the first woman to lead a broadcast network when she was named chairperson of Fox Broadcasting, has a long resume as one of the television industry's top executives.

After helping orchestrate Fox's landmark deal with the National Football League, Salhany left Fox in 1994 after reportedly clashing with studio Chairman Rupert Murdoch. An August 1994 article in the Los Angeles Times described Salhany as "highly regarded by local broadcasters, who consider her programming instincts, marketing skills and salesmanship to be among the best in the industry."

In 2003, Salhany co-founded Echo Bridge Entertainment, an independent film distribution company, and she has served as president and CEO of consulting firm JHMedia since 1997.

OUT: John R. Joyce

HP Board member since 2007

Joyce is a 30-year IBM veteran who has worn a number of hats at the company, including CFO, VP and controller for IBM’s global operations, senior VP of IBM Global Services, and president of IBM Asia Pacific.

When Joyce took control of IBM Global Services in 2004 he was widely viewed internally as a potential future president of the company. In 2005, Joyce told former CRN sister publication VARBusiness about how he viewed the mammoth responsibility of guiding IGS' 190,000-employee strong workforce while also ensuring margin growth.

"I inherited a tremendously successful organization. The mission of my team is to make sure we keep that huge revenue- and profit-machine running," Joyce told VARBusiness at the time.

Joyce, 56, left IBM in 2005 for a position as managing director of Silver Lake, a private equity firm, where he remained until last year. He's currently vice chairman and CFO of Silver Springs Networks, a utility networking solutions company.

OUT: Robert L. Ryan

Board member since 2004

HP’s lead independent director from September 2008 to October 2010, Ryan was the first board member to comment on how HP would look to fill the leadership vacuum created by HP CEO Mark Hurd's resignation.

"The board recognizes that this change in leadership is unexpected news for everyone associated with HP, but we have strong leaders driving our businesses, and strong teams of employees driving performance," Ryan said in a statement last August.

Ryan, 67, worked in a variety of positions at Union Texas Petroleum Corp from 1982 to 1993 and served as senior VP and CFO of medical technology firm Medtronic from 1993 until retiring in 2005. Ryan is also a director of Stanley Black & Decker, General Mills, and Citigroup and was a director of UnitedHealth Group from 1996 to 2008.

OUT: Joel Z. Hyatt

Board member since 2007

Hyatt, a Yale Law School graduate and founder of Hyatt Legal Services, is probably most widely known with 30 and 40-somethings for his television commercials that aired in the 80s and 90s and featured the distinctive declaration, "I'm Joel Hyatt and you have my word on it".

From 1998 to 2003, Hyatt taught entrepreneurship at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. The 61 year old was CEO of Current Media from 2002 to July 2009 and since then has served as vice chairman of cable and satellite television firm Current Media. Hyatt was also a member of the search team of directors that was formed to find a successor to Hurd after his resignation as HP CEO.

NEXT: A Look At The Incoming Directors..

1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>