HP chairman steps down; 2 board members leaving

Jon Swartz, USA TODAY | USATODAY

SAN FRANCISCO -- There's been a shakeup on the Hewlett-Packard board of directors.

Chairman Ray Lane just stepped down, to be replaced on an interim basis by Ralph Whitworth, according to HP. A search for Lane's replacement is underway.

Lane, 66, will remain on the board, which is losing two other members: John Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson, who are departing after eight and seven years, respectively.

Both directors will continue to serve until the company's board meeting in May. The HP board has started a search for them, too.

In yet another move, HP said the role of lead independent director, held by Rajiv L. Gupta, will be eliminated. Gupta will remain on the board and eventually replace Thompson as chairman of the audit committee.

The latest version of musical chairs on HP's board underscores shareholder unease. The move comes two weeks after a near ouster of Lane by HP shareholders at the company's annual meeting. Shareholders are still smarting over the company's $11 billion acquisition of Autonomy in 2011 that ended in an $8.8 billion write-down.

The decision by Lane, the former president of Oracle, might complicate the turnaround plans of HP CEO Meg Whitman, who is trying to revitalize the computer giant.

"With a strong personality in the CEO role... executive leadership and the board may not have had an aligned view of the future," says James Gauss, chairman of board services for executive-search firm Witt/Kieffer. A disconnect between strategy and governance "often causes turnover," he says.