IT之家 November 4 news, HP Inc. announced the appointment of Emma Walmsley, former chief executive of British pharmaceutical company GSK, as the company’s new CEO. This means that after HP’s former CEO Enrique Lores left earlier this year, the company has finally confirmed an official successor.
HP said in an announcement on Wednesday local time that Walmsley will officially take office on January 4, 2027. She will succeed Bruce Broussard, who became HP’s interim CEO after Lores left in February this year to become CEO of PayPal. Broussard will move to become chairman of HP’s board of directors in January next year.
Walmsley is currently also a member of Microsoft’s board of directors. Previously, she served as CEO of British pharmaceutical company GSK for nearly 9 years and was one of the few female chief executives among FTSE 100 constituent companies.
During her leadership of GSK, Walmsley guided the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed for the launch of an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine, while also leading the spin-off of the consumer health business into Haleon. During her tenure, GSK’s sales grew significantly, and R&D investment doubled. However, the company’s share price fell by about 10% during her tenure, failing to satisfy investors.
During her time at GSK, Walmsley also faced a pressure campaign launched by activist investment firm Elliott Investment Management. The firm had questioned whether she was suitable to lead GSK, citing her lack of a scientific background. However, Walmsley ultimately successfully weathered this challenge.
In addition, Walmsley also pushed forward several major deals during her tenure. When discussing M&A strategy, she once warned that M&A in the pharmaceutical industry must be advanced cautiously. She said: “In the pharmaceutical industry, nothing disrupts an R&D organization more easily than aggressively cutting costs and extracting synergies.”
IT之家 noted that after the news was announced, HP’s share price initially fell before the opening of the New York market, but then recovered its losses and was basically flat.