HP might oust Apotheker

MAKER OF EXPENSIVE PRINTER INK HP's board is going to consider ousting CEO Léo Apotheker, according to reports.

There seem to be a few people familiar with matters who won't reveal themselves, and Bloomberg has found not one but two who believe HP CEO of 11 months Apotheker is about to fall on his sword.

One of these sources said that under the scenario that's being considered, HP's directors might appoint former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman as his successor, possibly on an interim basis.

Apotheker has come under fire after a year of what some might call haphazard corporate strategy and executive messaging at HP. More recently, he said that HP was planning to sell or spin off its PC business only to decide later that he hadn't said that at all.

Last week, HP and its top executives were accused of misleading investors before a slump in its stock price.

HP is facing a class action lawsuit filed by Robbins Geller Rudman and Down alleging that CEO Léo Apotheker and CFO Cathie Lesjak misled investors before making announcements that included the possible spin-off of its PC business, dumping WebOS devices and the purchase of British software outfit Autonomy.

Those announcements, all made in one afternoon, led to a 20 per cent drop in HP's share price the following day.

HP has also been selling off its WebOS Touchpads for as little as $100 in various fire sales, causing losses that could amount to hundreds of millions. µ