Blame It on Leo
The new HP hit Blame It on Leo, starring Meg Whitman and the rest of the HP board, is a fascinating tale of suspense and denial, pitting one ex-CEO against a future one. The tale develops in backwater Palo Alto with a 8.8 billion writeoff and a trail of bread crumbs leading back to the HP Board of Directors.
Actually, all kidding aside, HP CEO Meg Whitman’s blaming of the Autonomy debacle on ex-CEO Leo Apotheker and former CTO Shane Robison is ludicrous. First of all, where was the board during all of this. In July 2011, short seller Jim Chanos reported on his concerns with the target company’s books, disclosures, and future. Even HP’s own CFO, Cathy Lesjak, had stated that the acquisition price was too high and that the purchase was not in HP’s best interests.
CEO Meg Whitman’s passing of the blame to prior management is just a way to deflect it off of the current board, as a means for her own preservation and a ploy to reduce the board’s liability toward its stockholders . . . but it begs the question: When is the board ever responsible? If HP, with all of its problems, can show such carelessness as this, when will the board be called to answer?
CEO Whitman is betting her future on extended cloud capabilities and tablets. It will in the end be the success of these ventures that seal her fate. I hope the best for HP, but not many are betting on them.
References
Bloxham, Eleanor. How HP’s Meg Whitman is passing the buck. CNN Money. web. November 30, 2012.
Ricadela, Aaron. Meg Whitman to sharpen HP business focus. http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Meg-Whitman-to-sharpen-HP-business-focus-3887883.php September 23, 2012.
Bort, Julie. Meg Whitman Blamed a Well-Respected HP Tech Executive for the Autonomy Disaster –and that’s Ruffling Feathers. http://www.businessinsider.com/shane-robison-hp-autonomy-2012-11 November 28, 2012.
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