HP announces CEO succession

PALO ALTO, CA—HP Inc. today announced Aug. 22 that its board of directors has unanimously appointed Enrique Lores, currently president of HP’s Imaging, Printing, and Solutions business, to succeed Dion Weisler as the company’s president and CEO, effective Nov.1. Weisler’s decision to step down at this time is due to a family health matter and he will be returning home to Australia. He will work with Lores to ensure a seamless transition and will remain at the company through January 2020. Following this, Weisler will continue to serve on HP’s board of directors until the next annual meeting of stockholders.

Weisler joined HP in 2012 and has served as President and CEO since 2015. HP has added approximately $7 billion in annual revenue, generated over $13 billion in free cash flow, and has met or exceeded its non-GAAP EPS guidance for 15 consecutive quarters since separation.

“Serving as CEO of HP is the highlight of my career, and I want to thank the entire HP team for the support they have shown me," Weisler said. "I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved and equally confident in where we are heading as a company. Enrique has been a tremendous partner whose leadership has been instrumental in setting this company up for success and delivering on our strategy. He is one of the smartest people I know, and I have great confidence in his ability to lead and inspire the next chapter of HP’s transformation and growth.”

“On behalf of the board, we respect Dion’s decision to support the needs of his family,” said Chip Bergh, chair of HP’s board of directors. “We thank him for leading HP post-separation, building a strong team and restoring the company to drive strong shareholder value creation over the last four years.”

Bergh added, “Enrique is an inspiring and proven business leader and is the right person to lead HP into the future. Since the time of separation, the board has had an ongoing and diligent succession planning process that included vetting and benchmarking internal and external candidates. Through this rigorous process, Enrique emerged as the board’s unanimous choice as successor and we are confident he will build on the company’s progress and capitalize on new opportunities.”

Lores is one of HP’s most accomplished and multi-faceted leaders. He began his HP career 30 years ago as an engineering intern and has risen to increasingly prominent leadership positions across the company’s Print, Personal Systems and Services businesses. From his technical roots, he has developed broad leadership expertise and relationships working at the country, region and worldwide level. Throughout his career, Lores has been known for his relentless focus on serving customers and partners and his passion for driving innovation.

During the separation of Hewlett-Packard Company in 2015, Lores was a key architect of one of the largest and most complex corporate separations in business history and successfully led the Separation Management Office. He was instrumental in transforming HP’s cost structure while simplifying the organization and creating the capacity to invest in innovation to drive profitable top and bottom-line growth.

Since 2015, Lores has served as president of HP’s Imaging, Printing and Solutions business, which had revenues of over $20 billion for fiscal 2018 and has consistently outperformed the company’s printing peer set. He continues to reinvent HP’s Print business with a focus on differentiated innovation, business model transformation and strategic M&A—including HP’s acquisition of Samsung’s printer business in 2017—while fostering important ecosystem partnerships and demonstrating an industry-leading commitment to sustainable impact and the environment.

Over the past year, Lores has been working with the HP board on a comprehensive global review of the company’s strategy and business operations, with a focus on simplifying its operating model, evolving its business models and driving significant improvement in its cost structure while making the company more digitally enabled and customer-centric. Lores will provide more details on this work and his vision for the company on October 3 during HP’s investor update.

“Thirty years ago, I was drawn to HP by the company’s unique ability to bring out the best of humanity through the power of technology,” Lores said. “The opportunities ahead are vast and the need for us to keep reinventing is more important than ever. I continue to be inspired by our customers, partners and employees, who are turning bold ideas into meaningful innovations. This is where we will set our sights for the future.”