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

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...

IN: Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity

Senequier is founder and CEO of AXA Private Equity, a Paris-based private equity firm that manages some $25 billion in assets on three continents. One of the most well-known figures in European finance, Senequier has been described as "the queen of French private equity".

In an August interview with the Financial Times, Senequier acknowledged that persistent male envy can sometimes make her job difficult.

"I have found that being a woman in this job has attracted a great deal ofjealousyfrom men. Women tend to be pleased that another woman has been successful. I think that the French are the worst nation in the world for being jealous of success. It’s a great problem. In other countries they admire success," Senequier said in the interview.

Senequier is also a skilled concert pianist and was one of the first female students to graduate from the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique (1972). She also holds a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Banking and Monetary Economics from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

IN: Meg Whitman, former president and CEO of eBay

Whitman was president and CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008, guiding the company from a startup to an ecommerce giant with 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue. Whitman worked as VP of strategic planning for Disney in the 1980s and in the 1990s was an executive at DreamWorks, Procter & Gamble, and Hasbro.

Whitman announced her intention to run for California governor in February 2009 and won the Republic primary in June 2010, but lost the election to Jerry Brown in November. After the election Whitman said she planned on staying active in public policy and politics, and there has been speculation in recent weeks that she may be planning a political comeback.

IN: Patricia Russo, former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent

Russo, as chairman and CEO of Lucent, oversaw her firm's $13.4 billion merger with Alcatel in 2006. Russo served as CEO of the combined company until 2008 when she stepped down, along with Chairman Serge Tchuruk, after several consecutive quarterly losses for Alcatel-Lucent.

"The company will benefit from new leadership aligned with a newly composed board to bring a fresh and independent perspective that will take Alcatel-Lucent to its next level of growth and development in a rapidly changing global market," Russo said in a statement at the time.

Russo is also a board member at General Motors, Merck & Co. and ALCOA, and serves as chairperson of The Partnership at Drugfree.org, a non-profit organization.

More Incoming Directors.. IN: Shumeet Banerji, CEO of Booz & Company

Banerji joined consulting firm Booz & Company in 1992 and has held the CEO position since July 2008. Prior to taking over as CEO, Banerji was managing director of the company's European practice and helped establish and lead its practice in India in the late 1990s.

Banerji received his Ph.D. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and serves on the on the Dean’s Advisory Board at the school. He has also previously been a faculty member at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

IN: Gary Reiner, Special Advisor at private equity firm General Atlantic

Reiner, former senior VP and CIO at General Electric, left the company last March after 19 years to pursue outside opportunities. In 1996 he helped lead the Six Sigma Quality initiative throughout GE's entire range of businesses, a pursuit that doesn't typically fall within the purview of a CIO. He's currently a special advisor to private equity firm General Atlantic, where he helps shape its strategy for partnering with leading growth companies worldwide.

Reiner graduated from Harvard Business School in 1976 and began his career as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. In an August 2008 interview with Fortune, Reiner spoke of the transition GE has undergone during his tenure from a manufacturing focus to one based on services and information. He also noted GE's partnership with Dell, through which GE buys some $150 million in PCs each year.