The CEO job is hard enough to land once. HP’s incoming chief has done it twice
She joined GSK in 2010, became CEO of its consumer healthcare division in 2015, and took the top job in 2017, becoming the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company.
Key points
- In a study of 855 S&P 500 CEOs, Spencer Stuart found that 70% of those who went on to lead another S&P 500 company delivered stronger market-adjusted shareholder returns in their first CEO role.
- Her appointment follows the departure of Enrique Lores, who rose from engineering intern to CEO during more than three decades at HP before leaving for PayPal in February.
- According to Spencer Stuart, 21% of incoming S&P 1500 CEOs in 2024 had previously led a public company, up eight percentage points over three years.
When she takes over HP in January, the former GSK chief will become a two-time CEO of a major multinational, having crossed three industries to get there.
Starbucks recruited Chipotle chief Brian Niccol in 2024, while Papa John’s hired former Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor the same year.
Additional details
- After nine months under interim chief Bruce Broussard, HP has chosen a leader whose career followed a strikingly different trajectory.
- For Walmsley, whose experience restructuring GSK helped establish her credentials, HP presents a test of how readily those skills transfer to a technology business confronting different competitive pressures.
- Their appointments reflect the appeal of executives with established track records running large organizations, navigating competitive pressures, and leading corporate transformations.
- Kraft Heinz appointed former Kellanova chief Steve Cahillane in 2026.
- Walmsley spent 17 years at L’Oréal, holding management positions across four global cities before running its consumer products business in China.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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