Margaret C. Whitman

Margaret C. Whitman
Name	Margaret C. Whitman
Birth name	Margaret Cushing Whitman
Birth date	4 August 1956
Birth place	Cold Spring Harbor, New York, U.S.
Education	Princeton University (BA), Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation	Business executive
Known for	eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Spouse	Griffith R. Harsh IV

Margaret C. Whitman is an American business executive renowned for her transformative leadership at major technology and consumer companies. She is best known for her decade-long tenure as the president and chief executive officer of eBay, where she oversaw its explosive growth from a startup into a global e-commerce powerhouse. Whitman later served as the president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, guiding its historic split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc., and has held significant roles in venture capital, politics, and corporate governance.

Early life and education

Margaret Cushing Whitman was born in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and raised on Long Island. She attended Cold Spring Harbor High School before enrolling at Princeton University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She subsequently graduated from the Harvard Business School with a Master of Business Administration in 1979. Her early academic career was marked by a summer job at the Walt Disney Company, an experience that provided an initial introduction to large-scale business operations.

Career at Procter & Gamble and Bain & Company

Whitman began her professional career in the brand management department at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, working alongside future executives like Steve Ballmer. She then moved into management consulting, joining the Boston-based firm Bain & Company, where she advanced to the position of vice president. This period was followed by executive roles at several prominent corporations, including serving as senior vice president of marketing for the Stride Rite Corporation, president and chief executive officer of Florists' Transworld Delivery (FTD), and an executive at the toy manufacturer Hasbro's Playskool division.

eBay leadership and growth

In 1998, Whitman was recruited to become president and chief executive officer of the then-small online auction company eBay. Under her leadership, eBay grew from a niche site into a dominant global e-commerce and online payments platform, overseeing its initial public offering and the acquisitions of companies like PayPal and Skype. She navigated the company through the dot-com bubble and expanded its operations internationally, including key markets in Europe and Asia. Whitman stepped down as CEO in 2008, remaining on the board of directors until 2015.

Post-eBay ventures and political involvement

After leaving eBay's day-to-day operations, Whitman became a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2011. She had previously been active in politics, serving as a national co-chair for the Republican presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012. In 2010, she was the Republican nominee for Governor of California, losing to Democrat Jerry Brown after spending a record amount of personal funds on her campaign. She also served on the boards of Procter & Gamble and Zipcar.

Hewlett-Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise tenure

Whitman joined the board of the struggling technology giant Hewlett-Packard in 2011 and was appointed president and chief executive officer that same year, succeeding Léo Apotheker. Her tenure involved a major restructuring, including significant layoffs, and the controversial acquisition of Autonomy Corporation. Her most defining act was engineering the historic separation of Hewlett-Packard in 2015 into two Fortune 500 companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, focused on enterprise technology and services, which she led as president and CEO, and HP Inc., the personal computer and printer business. She stepped down as CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2018, becoming its executive chairman for a brief transition period.

Philanthropy and board memberships

Whitman has been a prominent philanthropist, with significant donations to her alma maters, Princeton University and Harvard Business School. She served as the chair of the board of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and has been involved with educational institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her corporate board service has extended beyond her executive roles, including positions at The Procter & Gamble Company, Dropbox, and Quibi. In 2019, she was appointed to the board of the newly formed The Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

Category:American business executives Category:1956 births Category:Living people