Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina (born Cara Carleton Sneed; September 6, 1954) is an American business executive and a former California Republican candidate for the United States Senate. Fiorina served as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and previously was an executive at AT&T and its equipment and technology spinoff, Lucent.

Fiorina was considered one of the most powerful women in business during her tenure at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard. The spinoff, from HP, of Agilent Technologies – which had been initiated by her predecessor, Lew Platt – was completed shortly after she joined the company in 1999. Under her leadership, in 2002, the company completed a contentious merger with rival computer company Compaq. During her tenure, HP stock lost half its value. In 2005, Fiorina was forced to resign as chief executive officer and chairman of HP following "differences about how to execute HP's strategy."

In 2008, Fiorina served as an advisor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. In 2010, Fiorina waged an unsuccessful challenge against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer of California.