Carly Fiorina

Carleton "Carly" S. Fiorina (born Cara Carleton Sneed; September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman. Fiorina served as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and previously was as an executive vice president at AT&T, where she coordinated the spinoff and initial public offering of Lucent.

Fiorina was considered one of the most powerful women in business during her tenure at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard. The spinoff 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. In 2005, the Hewlett-Packard board forced Fiorina to resign.

In 2008, Fiorina served as a top economic advisor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. She currently serves on the boards of several major business organizations. In November 2009, Fiorina announced she would seek the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer for the junior United States Senate seat representing California.