Showing posts with label Meg Whitman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meg Whitman. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
HP to cut 27,000 jobs
The fact that Hewlett-Packard has started a wave of layoffs isn't really a story, as it really represents business as usual. That this isn't a story is a story.
Believe it or not, there was a time when HP didn't lay off employees. Seeing workers as assets that were valued rather than disposable goods was part of a philosophy known as the HP Way. Indeed, it is fair to say no company so huge has ever treated its workers so well as HP did. That all changed under the leadership of Carly Fiorina, who instituted the first wave of job cuts during her time as CEO from 1999-2005. The current round of layoffs merely represent the realities of a new business philosophy.
(A little side note: I know a lot about the HP Way because my dad was an HP executive who took great pride in how well the company treated its workers. He left early in 2001, seeing the writing on the wall that Fioriana was an abusive CEO who didn't see the value of those beneath her.)
Perhaps it isn't a coincidence that Fioriana was the GOP nominee in 2010 for the California Senate race. Likewise, Meg Whitman, the current CEO, was the 2010 GOP nominee for California governor. Both are noted for being "moderate" Republicans, whatever the hell that means. Of course, the connection to the Republican Party and HP isn't new: David Packard, the business brains behind HP, was a Deputy Defense Secretary under Richard Nixon. Despite his conservative street cred, it was he who fully embraced the no layoff philosophy, believing workers would only achieve at their fullest if they knew the company they served stood behind them.
Today, there are really no corporate executives, either Democrat or Republican in political loyalties, who share Mr. Packard's sympathetic and progressive outlook. In this sense, the job cuts at HP don't represent a change in merely the philosophy of CEOs ore the Republican Party, but a change of view in workers from the entire political establishment...
Source:
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/HP-to-cut-27-000-jobs-on-weak-forecast-3581237.php
Saturday, November 13, 2010
California bucks national political trend
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bd3991ac-e770-11df-b5b4-00144feab49a.html
California bucks national political trend
Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles
November 3 2010
California lived up to its reputation for bucking national political trends when its voters rejected Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, two former Silicon Valley chief executives who broke campaign spending records, halting Republican gains that had swept across the rest of the US.
Ms Whitman, former chief executive of Ebay, spent more than $140m of her own money and $160m in total on her campaign to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of the most populous state. Yet she lost to Jerry Brown, her Democratic opponent.
Ms Whitman’s record-breaking sum outstripped the $109m spent by Michael Bloomberg in his 2009 campaign to be re-elected mayor of New York. She failed to strike a chord with voters despite blanket television commercials that characterised Mr Brown as a weak-willed union stooge unwilling to take the “tough decisions” needed to put California back on track.
“We’ve come up a little short,” she told supporters in her concession speech. “But certainly not for lack of hard work, determination and a clear vision for making our state better.”
Ms Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, did not spend as much as Ms Whitman yet poured millions of dollars of her own money into her campaign to unseat Barbara Boxer in the Senate race. Yet she was unable to prevent voters backing Ms Boxer in what was an 11th consecutive election win for the Democratic senator.
Ms Fiorina “walks in that far right lane”, Ms Boxer told supporters this week. “And that is not where the majority of Californians walk.”
For Mr Brown, victory is the latest chapter in an extraordinary political career that will return him to a position he has held twice before. Mr Brown, who earned the sobriquet “Governor Moonbeam” for his liberal views, was California’s youngest governor when he was first elected in 1975, following in the footsteps of his father, Edmund “Pat” Brown.
At 74, Mr Brown is now the oldest governor the state has ever had. “I want everyone in California to know we might, and we will, have tough times, but if we all pull together . . . tell it like it is, and level with you, we can meet the challenges ahead,” he told his supporters in an e-mail.
Mr Brown spent only a fraction of the Whitman campaign. But he is a wily campaigner: his ratings surged on last month’s news Ms Whitman had employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper for nine years.
In beating Ms Whitman he seems to have avoided the anti-establishment mood that drove Democrats from office elsewhere in the US.
This may be because of his quirky personality and willingness to speak his mind. When asked during the campaign whether he would devote his attention to the job if elected, he said: “At 74, I’m ready. I now have a wife, I come home at night and I don’t try to close down all the bars in Sacramento like I used to when I was last governor of California.”
California bucks national political trend
Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles
November 3 2010
California lived up to its reputation for bucking national political trends when its voters rejected Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, two former Silicon Valley chief executives who broke campaign spending records, halting Republican gains that had swept across the rest of the US.
Ms Whitman, former chief executive of Ebay, spent more than $140m of her own money and $160m in total on her campaign to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of the most populous state. Yet she lost to Jerry Brown, her Democratic opponent.
Ms Whitman’s record-breaking sum outstripped the $109m spent by Michael Bloomberg in his 2009 campaign to be re-elected mayor of New York. She failed to strike a chord with voters despite blanket television commercials that characterised Mr Brown as a weak-willed union stooge unwilling to take the “tough decisions” needed to put California back on track.
“We’ve come up a little short,” she told supporters in her concession speech. “But certainly not for lack of hard work, determination and a clear vision for making our state better.”
Ms Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, did not spend as much as Ms Whitman yet poured millions of dollars of her own money into her campaign to unseat Barbara Boxer in the Senate race. Yet she was unable to prevent voters backing Ms Boxer in what was an 11th consecutive election win for the Democratic senator.
Ms Fiorina “walks in that far right lane”, Ms Boxer told supporters this week. “And that is not where the majority of Californians walk.”
For Mr Brown, victory is the latest chapter in an extraordinary political career that will return him to a position he has held twice before. Mr Brown, who earned the sobriquet “Governor Moonbeam” for his liberal views, was California’s youngest governor when he was first elected in 1975, following in the footsteps of his father, Edmund “Pat” Brown.
At 74, Mr Brown is now the oldest governor the state has ever had. “I want everyone in California to know we might, and we will, have tough times, but if we all pull together . . . tell it like it is, and level with you, we can meet the challenges ahead,” he told his supporters in an e-mail.
Mr Brown spent only a fraction of the Whitman campaign. But he is a wily campaigner: his ratings surged on last month’s news Ms Whitman had employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper for nine years.
In beating Ms Whitman he seems to have avoided the anti-establishment mood that drove Democrats from office elsewhere in the US.
This may be because of his quirky personality and willingness to speak his mind. When asked during the campaign whether he would devote his attention to the job if elected, he said: “At 74, I’m ready. I now have a wife, I come home at night and I don’t try to close down all the bars in Sacramento like I used to when I was last governor of California.”
Friday, August 6, 2010
Beware rich political saviors
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_6167.shtml
Beware rich political saviors
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jul 30, 2010
Consumer confidence is terrible; citizen confidence is worse. Only 11 percent of Americans have confidence in Congress. No surprise there is record-setting anti-incumbency anger rampant among Americans. But the sad truth is damned if you do and damned if you don’t vote for incumbents.
The problem is that the reformers, populist outsiders, tea party candidates, surprise primary winners and others expecting to oust incumbents in the coming mid-term elections for members of Congress and state governors and other officials mostly suck. Why? They are nutty, ignorant, dishonest or racist.
Pathetic US Senate candidates like Alvin Greene on the left in South Carolina and Sharron Angle on the right in Nevada, for example, are intellectual nits and an insult to a once envied political system. And in Memphis, Tennessee Willie Herenton, who is African-American, sells black racism to oust two-term incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen in a primary, telling blacks to not vote for his white opponent.
Many ambitious candidates drained the economy to become super-rich. Is this any time to trust people who have taken advantage of our corrupt corporate system to run the government and serve those they have previously taken advantage of for personal gain? Will anger about the corrupt, dysfunctional government system be sufficient for voters to turn the government over to people who have nothing in common with most Americans?
Consider California. Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate for governor wants to beat the familiar, incumbent-like Democrat Jerry Brown, now attorney general, and was previously the chief executive of eBay. She has outspent all other self-financed candidates across the country by using $91 million of her own money to knock out Steve Poizner, who spent $24 million of his own money, in the Republican primary. California is big, but $91 million and likely even more!! She will greatly outspend Brown. And Carly Fiorina, a Republican who is challenging Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer in California, has the audacity to claim on her website that she will “fight for every job” if elected even though, as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, in 2003 she cut about 18,000 jobs and did little good for the company. She has already spent $5 million. Are these people worthy of public support?
Consider Florida. Republican Rick Scott, the former head of Columbia/HCA Healthcare -- an awfully large hospital chain that paid $1.7 billion in fines for fraudulently billing government programs like Medicare -- has become the front-runner for Florida governor. He supposedly is worth about $200 million. He was ousted by his own board of directors in 1997 amid the nation’s biggest health care fraud scandal. He loaned his campaign $22.9 million during the period from April 9 through July 16 and spent $22.65 million of it. In contrast, he received only $415,126 in contributions. Bill McCollum, his Republican opponent, raised a little over $1 million during the reporting period and spent about $1.7 million. He has raised $5.7 million since he announced his campaign last year. He has less than $500,000 left. Democrat candidate Alex Sink, with no primary opponent, raised $1.1 million for the reporting period and has raised $7.3 million so far. Is Scott better qualified because of his wealth and ability to advertise more?
Also in Florida is Jeff Greene who wants to be US Senator, a Democrat who had been a Republican with a strange gang of friends like Mike Tyson and Heidi Fleiss. Incredibly, most of his fortune, estimated at $1.4 billion, came from derivatives that let him profit from the collapse of subprime mortgages which helped tank the US economy. He lives in an oceanfront mansion when he is not on one of his yachts or his plane with gold seatbelt buckles. He recently reported taking a paltry $3,036 in outside contributions, while lending himself -- and spending -- $5.9 million in the second quarter. Recent polls found Greene roughly even in the primary with Democrat Representative Kendrick B. Meek, who had been the party favorite and took 18 months to raise a similar amount. Incumbent-like candidate Governor Charlie Crist still leads as an independent in a three-way general election. Greene boasts that now is the moment for self-financed candidates. “If 2008 was the year of change, 2010 is the year of frustration,” he said. But does frustration justify voting for these characters?
And then there is Linda E. McMahon, a Connecticut Republican, who made her fortune in professional wrestling before her Senate run. She has stated a willingness to spend $50 million of her own money to win the election, a lot of money for such a small state, and has already spent $21.5 million. A television ad declares, “Politicians have had their chance, and blown it” while her jobs plan “is backed by experience.” She became president of the WWF as a legal maneuver to save the company in 1993, because her husband was indicted for distributing steroids to his wrestlers. Cleverly, she blew the whistle and told regulators something few in the industry would admit: wrestling matches were scripted shows and not athletic competitions that required the kind of oversight that, say, boxing required. The financial benefit was that her wrestling business operates in 29 states without supervision by state athletic boards or commissions, saving the company licensing fees. She served only a few months on the state Board of Education and then became a candidate. She supports policies that favor the rich and advocates offshore oil drilling. She faces Democrat incumbent-like Richard Blumenthal, now attorney general of Connecticut. Is her wrestling business experience really the basis for being a great senator?
Voters should remember this: None of these characters are legitimate populists, progressives or reformers with a political record to show their true capabilities or positions. Why trust them? Would they perform better than incumbents? I don’t think so. More likely, they would serve elites and corporate interests. In the past very few rich candidates have won office (just 11 percent), but considering the anti-incumbency sentiment this year, big money may prevail.
Is the evil you don’t know really better than the evil you do know because of failed government experience? Are some incumbents worth support? Or will many Americans admit that voting no longer can fix and reform our battered democracy and stay home? I think I will. There are just too many fools and idiots voting that offset the votes of informed and intelligent citizens. Maybe if voter turnout was totally abysmal, say 20 percent, maybe then we would get the reforms or revolution we need by delegitimizing our delusional democracy.
Joel S. Hirschhorn can be contacted through www.delusionaldemocracy.com.
Beware rich political saviors
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jul 30, 2010
Consumer confidence is terrible; citizen confidence is worse. Only 11 percent of Americans have confidence in Congress. No surprise there is record-setting anti-incumbency anger rampant among Americans. But the sad truth is damned if you do and damned if you don’t vote for incumbents.
The problem is that the reformers, populist outsiders, tea party candidates, surprise primary winners and others expecting to oust incumbents in the coming mid-term elections for members of Congress and state governors and other officials mostly suck. Why? They are nutty, ignorant, dishonest or racist.
Pathetic US Senate candidates like Alvin Greene on the left in South Carolina and Sharron Angle on the right in Nevada, for example, are intellectual nits and an insult to a once envied political system. And in Memphis, Tennessee Willie Herenton, who is African-American, sells black racism to oust two-term incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen in a primary, telling blacks to not vote for his white opponent.
Many ambitious candidates drained the economy to become super-rich. Is this any time to trust people who have taken advantage of our corrupt corporate system to run the government and serve those they have previously taken advantage of for personal gain? Will anger about the corrupt, dysfunctional government system be sufficient for voters to turn the government over to people who have nothing in common with most Americans?
Consider California. Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate for governor wants to beat the familiar, incumbent-like Democrat Jerry Brown, now attorney general, and was previously the chief executive of eBay. She has outspent all other self-financed candidates across the country by using $91 million of her own money to knock out Steve Poizner, who spent $24 million of his own money, in the Republican primary. California is big, but $91 million and likely even more!! She will greatly outspend Brown. And Carly Fiorina, a Republican who is challenging Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer in California, has the audacity to claim on her website that she will “fight for every job” if elected even though, as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, in 2003 she cut about 18,000 jobs and did little good for the company. She has already spent $5 million. Are these people worthy of public support?
Consider Florida. Republican Rick Scott, the former head of Columbia/HCA Healthcare -- an awfully large hospital chain that paid $1.7 billion in fines for fraudulently billing government programs like Medicare -- has become the front-runner for Florida governor. He supposedly is worth about $200 million. He was ousted by his own board of directors in 1997 amid the nation’s biggest health care fraud scandal. He loaned his campaign $22.9 million during the period from April 9 through July 16 and spent $22.65 million of it. In contrast, he received only $415,126 in contributions. Bill McCollum, his Republican opponent, raised a little over $1 million during the reporting period and spent about $1.7 million. He has raised $5.7 million since he announced his campaign last year. He has less than $500,000 left. Democrat candidate Alex Sink, with no primary opponent, raised $1.1 million for the reporting period and has raised $7.3 million so far. Is Scott better qualified because of his wealth and ability to advertise more?
Also in Florida is Jeff Greene who wants to be US Senator, a Democrat who had been a Republican with a strange gang of friends like Mike Tyson and Heidi Fleiss. Incredibly, most of his fortune, estimated at $1.4 billion, came from derivatives that let him profit from the collapse of subprime mortgages which helped tank the US economy. He lives in an oceanfront mansion when he is not on one of his yachts or his plane with gold seatbelt buckles. He recently reported taking a paltry $3,036 in outside contributions, while lending himself -- and spending -- $5.9 million in the second quarter. Recent polls found Greene roughly even in the primary with Democrat Representative Kendrick B. Meek, who had been the party favorite and took 18 months to raise a similar amount. Incumbent-like candidate Governor Charlie Crist still leads as an independent in a three-way general election. Greene boasts that now is the moment for self-financed candidates. “If 2008 was the year of change, 2010 is the year of frustration,” he said. But does frustration justify voting for these characters?
And then there is Linda E. McMahon, a Connecticut Republican, who made her fortune in professional wrestling before her Senate run. She has stated a willingness to spend $50 million of her own money to win the election, a lot of money for such a small state, and has already spent $21.5 million. A television ad declares, “Politicians have had their chance, and blown it” while her jobs plan “is backed by experience.” She became president of the WWF as a legal maneuver to save the company in 1993, because her husband was indicted for distributing steroids to his wrestlers. Cleverly, she blew the whistle and told regulators something few in the industry would admit: wrestling matches were scripted shows and not athletic competitions that required the kind of oversight that, say, boxing required. The financial benefit was that her wrestling business operates in 29 states without supervision by state athletic boards or commissions, saving the company licensing fees. She served only a few months on the state Board of Education and then became a candidate. She supports policies that favor the rich and advocates offshore oil drilling. She faces Democrat incumbent-like Richard Blumenthal, now attorney general of Connecticut. Is her wrestling business experience really the basis for being a great senator?
Voters should remember this: None of these characters are legitimate populists, progressives or reformers with a political record to show their true capabilities or positions. Why trust them? Would they perform better than incumbents? I don’t think so. More likely, they would serve elites and corporate interests. In the past very few rich candidates have won office (just 11 percent), but considering the anti-incumbency sentiment this year, big money may prevail.
Is the evil you don’t know really better than the evil you do know because of failed government experience? Are some incumbents worth support? Or will many Americans admit that voting no longer can fix and reform our battered democracy and stay home? I think I will. There are just too many fools and idiots voting that offset the votes of informed and intelligent citizens. Maybe if voter turnout was totally abysmal, say 20 percent, maybe then we would get the reforms or revolution we need by delegitimizing our delusional democracy.
Joel S. Hirschhorn can be contacted through www.delusionaldemocracy.com.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Meg Whitman off and running
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=35596
Meg Whitman off and running
Carla Marinucci
February 09 2009
We told you more than a year ago that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was eyeing a 2010 run at the GOP nomination for governor. Now she's made it official, announcing she has formed an exploratory committee. Now look for the battle royale to begin between her and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has been working this turf for more than a year.
Here's her press release this morning:
SACRAMENTO -- Republican Meg Whitman, former President and CEO of eBay, today announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee to seek the nomination for Governor in 2010. Former California Governor Pete Wilson will serve as Campaign Chairman, joining Exploratory Committee Co-Chairs House Chief Deputy Republican Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, State Senator Tony Strickland, Assembly Republican Whip Nathan Fletcher and former State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner. In the coming weeks, through speeches in Silicon Valley, Orange County and at the California Republican Party Convention in Sacramento, Whitman will offer a vision for the Golden State.
''After careful consideration and with tremendous loyalty to our Golden State, I have formed an Exploratory Committee, the first step in the process of running for Governor in 2010,'' Whitman said. ''California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit. California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail. Now is the time for people across the state to join in a cause for change, excellence and a new California.''
Whitman, 52, retired from eBay in March 2008 following a decade with the company. Under her leadership, eBay grew from a startup with 30 employees, $4.7 million in revenues, and 300,000 users to a global e-commerce leader with operations in 38 countries, more than 15,000 employees, almost $8 billion in revenues, and more than 300 million registered users. There are more than 12 million eBay users in California alone.
Jeff Randle, president and CEO of Randle Communications, is Whitman's senior adviser and has worked with her since 2007. Randle joins Henry Gomez, one of Whitman's closest advisers during her tenure at eBay. Together, Randle and Gomez are developing a campaign organization that includes some of America's most respected campaign professionals.
''Meg Whitman is a tremendous leader and team-builder,'' Randle said. ''California today has serious problems, but Meg is committed to working to restore the state's greatness. With new leadership and a new direction, Meg will forge a new California, which will once again be the number one state in economic growth, job creation and quality of life.''
Stay tuned.
Meg Whitman off and running
Carla Marinucci
February 09 2009
We told you more than a year ago that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was eyeing a 2010 run at the GOP nomination for governor. Now she's made it official, announcing she has formed an exploratory committee. Now look for the battle royale to begin between her and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has been working this turf for more than a year.
Here's her press release this morning:
SACRAMENTO -- Republican Meg Whitman, former President and CEO of eBay, today announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee to seek the nomination for Governor in 2010. Former California Governor Pete Wilson will serve as Campaign Chairman, joining Exploratory Committee Co-Chairs House Chief Deputy Republican Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, State Senator Tony Strickland, Assembly Republican Whip Nathan Fletcher and former State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner. In the coming weeks, through speeches in Silicon Valley, Orange County and at the California Republican Party Convention in Sacramento, Whitman will offer a vision for the Golden State.
''After careful consideration and with tremendous loyalty to our Golden State, I have formed an Exploratory Committee, the first step in the process of running for Governor in 2010,'' Whitman said. ''California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit. California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail. Now is the time for people across the state to join in a cause for change, excellence and a new California.''
Whitman, 52, retired from eBay in March 2008 following a decade with the company. Under her leadership, eBay grew from a startup with 30 employees, $4.7 million in revenues, and 300,000 users to a global e-commerce leader with operations in 38 countries, more than 15,000 employees, almost $8 billion in revenues, and more than 300 million registered users. There are more than 12 million eBay users in California alone.
Jeff Randle, president and CEO of Randle Communications, is Whitman's senior adviser and has worked with her since 2007. Randle joins Henry Gomez, one of Whitman's closest advisers during her tenure at eBay. Together, Randle and Gomez are developing a campaign organization that includes some of America's most respected campaign professionals.
''Meg Whitman is a tremendous leader and team-builder,'' Randle said. ''California today has serious problems, but Meg is committed to working to restore the state's greatness. With new leadership and a new direction, Meg will forge a new California, which will once again be the number one state in economic growth, job creation and quality of life.''
Stay tuned.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11374287
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
01/05/2009
Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant's former CEO.
Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP's nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.
On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay's board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves "a clear signal" that she is running for governor and does not want "her corporate activities to interfere."
The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.
Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year. Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she's likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation "for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment."
A hands-on corporate leader with a marketing background and Harvard MBA, Whitman joined eBay in 1998 as the 30th employee. By the time she resigned as chief executive last March, eBay had more than 15,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $7.7 billion.
In recent speeches, including a nationally televised one at the September Republican National Convention, Whitman has touted her credentials not just as a corporate job creator but as one who understands the workings of the small businesses around the globe that use eBay as their selling platform.
Her eBay tenure also made her immensely wealthy; Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion. But as of her last SEC filing on Nov. 18, Whitman owned 24.2 million shares of eBay, and those shares alone have lost $400 million in value compared with a year ago.
Though she is not an eloquent speechmaker, her corporate experience — combined with her ability to self-finance a campaign— led the Web site Politico.com to name her one of the top 10 political newcomers of 2008.
But history is not on Whitman's side. Self-financed candidates seeking the state's top job have failed many times.
And unlike Campbell and Poizner, Whitman has never been through the rigors of a statewide campaign. She already endured some bad press after it was disclosed she only registered as a Republican in 2007, switching from decline-to-state. And she has had a spotty voting record during her time as a California resident.
Gomez, her spokesman, said Whitman regrets her failure to vote but had her "head down" running a company and raising a family. She has two college-age sons. And she chose to switch to a GOP registration, Gomez said, so she could vote for Romney in the 2008 California presidential primary.
Quipped Poizner campaign chief Jim Brulte on Monday: "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Mercury News Data Manager Jack Davis contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.
EBay's Whitman appears set to run for governor
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Mercury News
01/05/2009
Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant's former CEO.
Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP's nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.
On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay's board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves "a clear signal" that she is running for governor and does not want "her corporate activities to interfere."
The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.
Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year. Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she's likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation "for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment."
A hands-on corporate leader with a marketing background and Harvard MBA, Whitman joined eBay in 1998 as the 30th employee. By the time she resigned as chief executive last March, eBay had more than 15,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $7.7 billion.
In recent speeches, including a nationally televised one at the September Republican National Convention, Whitman has touted her credentials not just as a corporate job creator but as one who understands the workings of the small businesses around the globe that use eBay as their selling platform.
Her eBay tenure also made her immensely wealthy; Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion. But as of her last SEC filing on Nov. 18, Whitman owned 24.2 million shares of eBay, and those shares alone have lost $400 million in value compared with a year ago.
Though she is not an eloquent speechmaker, her corporate experience — combined with her ability to self-finance a campaign— led the Web site Politico.com to name her one of the top 10 political newcomers of 2008.
But history is not on Whitman's side. Self-financed candidates seeking the state's top job have failed many times.
And unlike Campbell and Poizner, Whitman has never been through the rigors of a statewide campaign. She already endured some bad press after it was disclosed she only registered as a Republican in 2007, switching from decline-to-state. And she has had a spotty voting record during her time as a California resident.
Gomez, her spokesman, said Whitman regrets her failure to vote but had her "head down" running a company and raising a family. She has two college-age sons. And she chose to switch to a GOP registration, Gomez said, so she could vote for Romney in the 2008 California presidential primary.
Quipped Poizner campaign chief Jim Brulte on Monday: "Welcome to the Republican Party."
Mercury News Data Manager Jack Davis contributed to this report. Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at mostrom@mercurynews.com or (415) 477-3794.
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