HP After Hurd: Let the CEO Guessing Games Begin

This post is an excerpt from a piece that Larry Dignan, Editor in Chief of BNET's sister sites ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of TechRepublic, originally wrote for ZDNet.
The abrupt resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd will spark a lot of speculation about his successor. Who will run HP next?

As analyzed earlier, Hurd stepped down over a sexual harassment claim. A few key facts:

• Hurd resigned.
• A committee is being formed to find a replacement.
• CFO Cathie Lesjak will be interim CEO, but doesn't want the job permanently.
• Both internal and external candidates will be considered.
• HP executives and board members said the company won't miss a beat and upped its outlook for the next quarter and fiscal year.

Now the guessing game begins. Who will be HP's next CEO? Board member Marc Andreessen, who sold Loudcloud to HP, will be the center of HP's CEO search. He didn't have a lot to say, but did add that HP was looking for a CEO with "strong leadership and strong operating skills."

Also: HP CEO Mark Hurd resigns amid sexual harassment claim

• HP statement
• BNET: How to Find Your Next CEO
• CBS News: Hurd Scandal Just the Latest Episode in HP's Peyton Place Annals

The big question is figuring out who fits that bill. HP can be expected to cast a wide net. Remember HP plucked Hurd out of NCR, where he was known for strong operating skills, but wasn't nearly as flashy as Carly Fiorina before him. Here's a first crack at figuring out who would replace Hurd.

Internal candidates:

• Ann Livermore (right), executive VP of HP's enterprise business. Livermore oversees a business with $54 billion in annual revenue. Her turf includes storage, servers, software and services. That's footprint is big enough to run the entire company. If Livermore wants the job, she would be a strong candidate.
• Todd Bradley, who runs HP's personal systems group. Bradley runs HP's $42 billion PC and device business. Bradley's big task in the year ahead will be making the Palm acquisition work. Bradley has been CEO before at Palm and has run global operations for Gateway. He has the experience.
• Vyomesh (VJ) Joshi, who runs HP's printing business. Joshi has a large unit, but it's hard to see him running HP's other units. The rest of the internal field falls into that category for the most part. On the press call, HP was asked about whether Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein would get a crack at the CEO position. Rubinstein as HP CEO is a bit hard to see.
• Andreessen, who sits on HP's board. Andreessen is certainly a visionary and gets the converged infrastructure concept. What he did with Loudcloud--along with partner Ben Horowitz--was impressive. Andreessen would be a long shot, but you never know.

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