Carly Fiorina is the current Chair of the non-profit philanthropic organization Good360 and the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP). She was the first woman to lead a firm that was listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average when she was named CEO of Hewlett-Packard in 1999. (HP). She was the first woman to run one of the top twenty corporations in the United States, and she was key in bringing HP and competitor computer giant Compaq together, making HP the world’s largest personal computer manufacturer. Fiorina, the daughter of a distinguished judge, had decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and enrolled at the University of California’s law school. She soon recognized, however, that a legal career was not for her and dropped out, much to her father’s dismay. She eventually acquired an MBA and began working in the corporate world. She achieved great success as a result of her natural business aptitude, rising to become one of the most prominent women in American business. She dabbled in politics and was briefly mentioned as a prospective vice presidential contender. Fiorina, on the other hand, has loftier ambitions, and she launched her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 election in May 2015.
Childhood and Adolescence
Cara Carleton Sneed was born in Austin, Texas, to Joseph Tyree Sneed III and Madelon Montross on September 6, 1954. Her mother was an artist and her father was a judge and law professor. She has two brothers and sisters.
Due to her father’s career, the family traveled frequently, and she attended a variety of schools before graduating from Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1976 after studying philosophy and medieval history at Stanford University.
She wanted to be a lawyer like her father, so she went to UCLA Law School. She quickly realized, however, that law was not her calling, and she dropped college after only one semester. She did a variety of occupations before opting to continue her education. In 1980, she earned a Master of Business Administration in marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Career of Carly
In 1980, Carly Fiorina began her career with AT&T as a management trainee. Her interest in the burgeoning subject of network communications drew her to the Network Systems division. Although the field was predominantly male-dominated, the tenacious young lady quickly carved out a place for herself inside the organization. She quickly ascended through the ranks at AT&T over the next decade, eventually becoming the division’s first female officer. She rose through the ranks to become the director of sales for North America.
AT&T chose to spin off its Western Electric and Bell Labs divisions into a new company called Lucent in the mid-1990s. Fiorina was chosen to manage the endeavor, and she was instrumental in the planning and execution of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 1996, which went on to become one of the most successful IPOs in US history. She became head of Lucent’s consumer products division in late 1996, and chair of Lucent’s consumer communications joint venture with Philips, Philips Consumer Communications, in 1997.
By the late 1990s, she had established herself as one of America’s most recognized corporate executives, and she was being courted by a number of major corporations. She became the first woman to run a Fortune 20 firm when she became CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) in July 1999, following Lewis Platt. She rose to prominence in the American and international business worlds as a result of this assignment. Fiorina announced a merger with Compaq, a major industry competitor, in September 2001. The decision was challenged by HP’s cofounders’ sons, Walter Hewlett and David Packard. Fiorina, on the other hand, triumphed, and the merger took place in 2002.
The agreement failed to deliver the desired outcomes, and Fiorina was blamed for the failure. In 2005, she was forced to resign as HP’s CEO. Her departure was extensively publicized, and she was chastised for allegedly changing HP’s culture and discontinuing the profit-sharing scheme. Some business analysts, on the other hand, complimented her risk-taking qualities and predicted that the combination would succeed in the long run. She first worked for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2006, and then for the Republican National Committee’s “Victory” project a few years later.
Fiorina chose to run for the United States Senate in 2009, and she comfortably won the Republican primary. She competed against incumbent Barbara Boxer in the 2010 Senate election and lost to her. Following her defeat, Fiorina remained politically active. In 2012, Carly Fiorina was appointed chairman of Good360, a humanitarian organization. The organization’s goal is to assist businesses in donating excess items to charities rather than destroying it. It is regarded as one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States. She announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in May 2015, with the intention of running for President of the United States in 2016.
Major Projects of Carly
The role she played in the 2002 merger of HP and Compaq, a significant competitor in the sector, is Carly Fiorina’s greatest achievement as a business executive. As a result of the merger, Compaq became the world’s largest personal computer manufacturer in terms of units shipped. The merger, however, was a failure, and she was forced to quit from HP soon after.
Achievements & Awards
In 2002, she was awarded the Appeal of Conscience Award. Carly Fiorina was designated the most powerful woman in business by ‘Fortune Magazine’ in 2003 and earned the Seeds of Hope Award from Concern International. In 2004, she was named tenth on Forbes’ list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and she was featured in the Time 100 list of “most influential individuals in the world today.” In 2004, she received the Private Sector Council’s Leadership Award.
Personal History and Legacy
In June 1977, she married Todd Bartlem, a Stanford classmate. In 1984, the couple divorced.
In 1985, she married Frank Fiorina, an executive of AT&T. Frank was the father of two daughters from a previous marriage, but the pair had no children together. Carly’s high-profile work has always been supported by her husband. In 2009, Carly Fiorina was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and her prognosis for a full recovery was great.
Estimated Net Worth
Carly Fiorina has a net worth of $70 million and is an American businesswoman and politician. Carly Fiorina is most known for being the former CEO of Hewitt-Packard and chairman of the board of directors. From 1999 to 2005, she was the CEO of the company. She went on to serve on the boards of several corporations and work with a number of NGOs after that. In the 2010 Senate race, Fiorina ran an unsuccessful campaign against California Democrat Barbara Boxer. Fiorina earned further notoriety in 2016 when she ran for the Republican presidential nomination but was unsuccessful.