What is it with HP's board? Not only has Oracle CEO Larry Ellison reportedly called for their resignations en masse, immediately, following their hiring of ex-SAP CEO Leo Apotheker to lead HP into the future. Now ex-GE CEO Jack Welch chimed in, too, calling HP's board "somewhat dysfunctional" following its recent decisions around ousted CEO Mark Hurd and new CEO Apotheker. Welch goes on to accuse the board of failing to develop internal candidates to manage the company and going through three external CEOs in just a few years. From the 2006 spying scandal when then Chairman Patricia Dunn was charged with felonies in association with the hiring of investigators to spy on board members and journalists to find the source of a leak, to today's war of words on so many fronts, how has this corporate board – which is supposed to be the sound voice of reason and steady direction – somehow become the center of the scandalous news about a technology company? Here's a quick look at HP's board members and their careers.
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Ray LaneChairman of the board starting November 2010Former Oracle President Ray Lane left the Silicon Valley software giant in the year 2000, after friction grew between him and CEO and founder Larry Ellison. Lane went on to serve as general partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Now he's faced with leading HP's embattled board beyond today's turmoil into the future.
Marc L. AndreessenDirector since 2009Andreessen, at 39, is the youngest member of the HP board. Since his early days as a Silicon Valley icon and co-founder of Netscape in the 1990s, Andreessen went on to found LoudCloud which was eventually renamed Opsware and sold to HP for $1.6 billion in 2007. He is also co-founder and chairman of Ning, and in 2009 he co-founded and became general partner of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Rajiv L. GuptaDirector beginning January 2009Gupta served as CEO of and chairman of specialty materials giant Rohm and Haas from 1999 until 2009, and since his retirement has served as a senior advisor to private equity firm New Mountain Capital, LLC. He also is a director of The Vanguard Group and Tyco International Ltd.
Sari M. BaldaufDirector since 2006Baldauf is a former Nokia executive, having served as executive vice president and general manager of company's Networks business group from July 1998 until February 2005. She spent much of her career at Nokia, working there since 1983. Baldauf also serves as a director at Fortum Oyj, Daimler AG, F-Secure Corporation and CapMan Plc.
Joel Z. HyattDirector since 2007Yes, he's the Joel Hyatt of "I'm Joel Hyatt and you have my word on it" fame. Hyatt founded Hyatt Legal Services in 1977, and personally appeared it television commercials advertising his low-cost legal services firm. He later founded Hyatt Legal Plans. He ran for his father-in-law, U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum's senate seat when the statesman decided to retire. He won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election. He's also served as National Finance Chair for the Democratic party and is a business partner of former U.S. President Al Gore.
John R. JoyceDirector since 2007Joyce's roots go back to HP rival IBM where he served in several different executive roles over the course of 20 years. His titles included senior vice president and group executive of the IBM Global Services Division, CFO, President of IBM Asia Pacific, and vice president and controller for IBM's global operations Joyce is also a director of Gartner, Inc.; Avado Technologies Limited; Sabre, Inc.; Serena Software, Inc.; and Intelsat, Ltd. He currently serves as managing director for private equity firm Silver Lake.
G. Kennedy ThompsonDirector since 2006Thompson spent his career in the banking industry, serving as CEO and Chairman of Wachovia Bank until June 2, 2008 until the board asked him to resign amid the turmoil in the U.S. housing market. Since June 2009 Thompson has served as an executive director to private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners.
Robert L. RyanDirector since 2004Ryan served as senior vice president and CFO of Medtronic, a medical technology company, from 1993 until his retirement in May 2005. He is also a director of General Mills, Black and Decker and Citigroup.
Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr.Director since 2002Babbio's roots are in the telecom arena. He served as vice chairman and president of east coast telecom powerhouse Verizon communications from 2000 until he retired in April 2007. Since June 2007 he has served as a senior advisor to Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm.
Lucille S. SalhanyDirector since 2002Salhany spent her career as an executive in the broadcast network industry, and was the first woman to head a television network when she was named chairman of Fox Broadcasting, but she eventually resigned from that role after clashes with studio chairman Rupert Murdoch, according to the Los Angeles Times. She's also served as president and CEO of UPN, and currently serves as president and CEO of her own consulting company JHMedia and has been a partner and director of Echo Bridge Entertainment, an independent film distribution company, since 2003.
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