Getting your player ready...
SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard Co. has hired recently discarded software executive Leo Apotheker to steer the world’s largest technology company as it tries to prove it can thrive without its previous leader, Mark Hurd.
Apotheker, 57, spent most of his career at business-software maker SAP before being promoted to chief executive in April 2008. He lasted less than two years in the position. SAP decided not to renew his contract when it expired nearly eight months ago, largely because SAP’s financial performance hadn’t been living up to investor expectations.
