Meg Whitman
Encyclopedia
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard
. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University
and Harvard Business School
. Whitman served as an executive in The Walt Disney Company
where she was vice president of strategic planning throughout the 1980s. In the 1990s, she served as an executive for DreamWorks
, Procter & Gamble
, and Hasbro
. Whitman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay
from 1998 to 2008. During her ten years with the company, she oversaw expansion from 30 employees and $4 million in annual revenue to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue.
In February 2009, Whitman announced her candidacy for Governor of California
, becoming the third woman in a twenty year period to run for the office. She won the Republican primary in June 2010. The fourth wealthiest woman in the state of California with a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2010, she spent more of her own money on the race than any other political candidate spent on a single election in American history, spending $144 million total of her own fortune and $178.5 million including donors. Whitman lost to Jerry Brown
in the November 2 election.
, New York, the daughter of Hendricks Hallett Whitman and Margaret (née Goodhue) Whitman. She attended Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, New York
, graduating after three years in 1974. In her memoirs she says she was in the top ten of her class. She had wanted to be a doctor, so she studied math and science at Princeton University
. However, after spending a summer selling advertisements for a magazine, she switched to studying economics, earning a B.A. with honors in 1977. Whitman then obtained an M.B.A.
from Harvard Business School
in 1979.
Whitman is married to Griffith Harsh IV
, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University Medical Center
. They have two sons. She has lived in Atherton, California
, since March 1998. Whitman College
, a residential college
completed in 2007 at Princeton University
, is named after Meg Whitman following her $30 million donation.
in Cincinnati, Ohio, Whitman later moved on to work as a consultant at Bain & Company
's San Francisco office. She then rose through the ranks to achieve the position of senior Vice President.
Whitman became vice president of strategic planning at The Walt Disney Company
in 1989. Two years later she joined the Stride Rite Corporation
, before becoming president and CEO of Florists' Transworld Delivery
in 1995.
As Hasbro
's Playskool Division General Manager, she oversaw global management and marketing of two children's brands, Playskool
and Mr. Potato Head
starting in January 1997. She also imported the UK's children's television show Teletubbies
into the U.S.
on March 1998, when it had 30 employees and revenues of approximately $4 million. During her time as CEO, the company grew to approximately 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue by 2008. Originally, when Whitman had joined eBay, she found the website as a simple black and white webpage with courier font
. On her first day, the site crashed for eight hours. She believed the site to be confusing and began by building a new executive team. Whitman organized the company by splitting it into twenty-three business categories. She then assigned executives to each, including some 35,000 subcategories. In 2004, Whitman made several key changes in her management team. Jeff Gordon took over PayPal
, Matt Bannick took control of international operations and Bill Cobb was placed in control of U.S. operations, which has the colorful U.S. logo, while each international site has unique branding.
Shortly after taking the company public
, Whitman told how stock for the company would rise 80 points and fall 50 points in a single day. Soon after, Whitman received a call at her eBay office from Arthur Levitt, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She called in her general counsel and the two sat down and answered the line on speaker phone. Instead of any perceived negative reaction to stock volatility
, Levitt was calling to ask about the company going public and was concerned about whether the SEC was customer-friendly. He also discussed his interest in collectible Depression era glass
, post 1929.
During Whitman's tenure as CEO, eBay completed the purchase of Skype
for $4.1B in cash and stock in September 2005. In 2009, Skype was sold by eBay at a valuation of $2.75B.
In June 2007, while preparing for an interview with Reuters
, Whitman allegedly shoved her subordinate, communications employee Young Mi Kim. Of the incident, Whitman related, "In any high-pressure working environment, tensions can surface." Kim also stated, "Yes, we had an unfortunate incident, but we resolved it in a way that speaks well for her and for eBay." The matter was resolved after a $200,000 settlement.
Whitman resigned as CEO of eBay in November 2007, but remained on the board and served as an advisor to new CEO John Donahoe
until late 2008. She was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2008. "I've said for some time that 10 years is roughly the right time to stay at the helm at a company like ours", she said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle
, adding that "it's time for new leadership, a new perspective and a new vision."
Whitman has received numerous awards and accolades for her work at eBay. On more than one occasion, she was named among the top five most powerful women by Fortune
magazine. Harvard Business Review
named her the eighth-best-performing CEO of the past decade and the Financial Times
named her as one of the 50 faces that shaped the decade.
in October 2001 and then resigned in December 2002, amidst controversy that she had received shares in several public offerings managed by Goldman Sachs. (see Ties to Goldman Sachs for further detail) In March 2011, she was appointed a part-time special adviser at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
She has also joined the boards of Zipcar
and Teach For America
, and re-joined the board of Procter & Gamble.
's board of directors. She was named CEO on September 22, 2011.
asked Whitman to join the Giving Pledge in which billionaires would commit to donate half of their money to charity, and Whitman declined and said that she is committed to working with her foundation.
Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2008 and was on his National Finance Team. She was also listed as Finance co-chair of Romney's exploratory committee
. However, after Romney stepped out of the race and endorsed McCain, Whitman joined McCain's presidential campaign as a national co-chair. McCain mentioned Whitman as a possible Secretary of the Treasury
during the second presidential debate in 2008.
Whitman emphasized three major areas: job creation, reduced state government spending, and reform of the state's K-12 educational system. She argued that it is best to start only a few things and finish them, instead of starting a lot of things and finishing few of them.
. One advertisement is quoted by the LA Times, stating that "The Latino kids attending public schools in California today will be tomorrow's doctors, engineers, businessmen and teachers."
, for a year to study its potential economic implications. AB32 requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. At the state GOP Convention in March 2010, Whitman described California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate change bill as a "job-killer." Whitman opposed Proposition 23
, which would delay the global warming law AB32 until California's unemployment falls to 5.5 percent and stays there for a year, stating that the proposition did not reasonably balance the need to protect jobs with the need to preserve environment.
On water issues, Whitman opposed further restrictions on water supply in the Central Valley and suggested President Obama should overturn a federal judge's ruling under provisions in the Endangered Species Act
which reduced water supplies another 5% to 7%.
's approach to illegal immigration with Arizona SB 1070
is wrong and that there are better ways to solve the problem. She said that, if she had lived in California in 1994, she would have voted against Proposition 187
concerning illegal immigrants. In an op-ed during her gubernatorial campaign, Whitman wrote, "Clearly, when examining our positions on immigration, there is very little over which Jerry Brown and I disagree".
She stated that illegal immigrant students should be prohibited from attending state-funded institutions of higher education. Currently, California state law permits this. In 2009, Whitman called for "a path to legalization" of illegal immigrants. In a 2010 interview on television station KTLA
, Whitman said, "I want to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers."
in 2008, which reversed In re Marriage Cases
and defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman in the state, but she is for civil unions and supports California's domestic partnership laws. Whitman believes that the same-sex marriages that took place before the ban should be recognized, and that gay and lesbian couples should be permitted to adopt children. Whitman has criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Attorney General
Jerry Brown
for not defending Proposition 8 in the federal judicial system.
Whitman supports abortion rights.
Whitman has said that the legalization of marijuana
is not what any law enforcement person would suggest for any reason and that "this is the worst idea [she has] ever seen."
project. In a letter to the Sacramento Bee Whitman's spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said: "Meg believes the state cannot afford the costs associated with high-speed rail due to our current fiscal crisis." Her opponent Jerry Brown
is in favor of the project.
Whitman has made monetary donations to various candidates and PACs. While these have gone to both Republicans
and Democrats
, the donations are weighted to Republicans. Though Whitman has contributed to a few Democrats, including Senator Barbara Boxer
; donating $4,000 to her campaign and serving on the "Friends of Boxer" committee in 2004, she donated more than $225,000.00 during the same period to Republicans, eBay's PAC and to Americans for a Republican Majority, the PAC of former Rep. Tom DeLay
.
.
According to final reports, Whitman spent $144 million from her own personal funds. The Daily Caller
said that her "penchant for throwing money around is well known in California political circles". The comment came in connection with the disclosure that her campaign had paid far above market rates for advertising on a conservative political blog. The blog's founder, addressing the issue of a possible attempt to influence the blog's content, said he had made clear to the Whitman campaign that "advertising and editorial are two very different things".
In June 2010, Whitman released a political ad, A Lifetime in Politics A Legacy of Failure, which seemingly contained one image of the FAIL Blog
website, making it appear in the ad as if Jerry Brown had been the subject of one of the website's namesake "fails". Ben Huh, founder of the Cheezburger Network, of which failblog.org is a part, demanded an apology and the removal of the video, stating that the image was faked, and that the website is non-partisan and has never endorsed a particular political candidate or party.
On November 2, 2010, at 11:35 pm, Whitman conceded the election to her opponent, Jerry Brown, stating "We've come up a little short."
reported that Whitman did not vote for 28 years, after reviewing her voting records in California. Whitman has described her voting record as "atrocious", apologized for it, and stated that she is happy to discuss the matter. Whitman answered questions about her record in September, replying, "And I think the reason for many years, I wasn't as engaged in the political process and should have been."
, they acknowledged they may have received it, but forgot. Santillan's attorney, Gloria Allred
, states that Santillan was fired for the sake of the campaign. Whitman's campaign maintains that this is a political attack, stating that Allred is a Jerry Brown
supporter. Brown, Allred and Santillan all deny this. Crystal Williams, Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association stated "Not only is accepting the documents all the law required [Whitman] to do, but there's a counterbalancing anti-discrimination law that keeps her from probing further or demanding different documents." Others disagree; immigration lawyer Greg Siskind states Whitman was the employer, and the documents by law needed to be signed by her but were not, nor did they have a social security number on them; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted that Whitman "hired her, paid her and had direct contact with her for nine years", so should have known her legal status. The L.A. Times noted that Latino voters were more likely interested that Whitman treated Santillan "like a piece of garbage" when the maid asked for help finding an immigration attorney, and Whitman allegedly stated "you don't know me and I don't know you".
, whose executives donated $100,000 to the Whitman campaign, manages a part of Whitman's fortune. As CEO of eBay, Whitman earned approximately $1.78 million resulting from a practice known as spinning
whereby executives who did business with Goldman Sachs could reap profits by getting early deals before the public on hot IPOs offered by the bank. While Whitman was on Goldman’s board, she served on the compensation committee, which approved multi-million dollar bonus packages for then-CEO Henry Paulson
and his top aides. Public domain documents reveal that Whitman has a multi-million dollar stake in 21 investment funds managed by Goldman. Given Goldman's major investments in California state finances, all these ties to Goldman Sachs led to considerable controversy during the gubernatorial campaign. In response, Whitman vowed to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest, and publicly stated that she would immediately sell her Goldman stock and put her Goldman-managed investments in a blind trust
if elected governor.
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
. Whitman served as an executive in The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
where she was vice president of strategic planning throughout the 1980s. In the 1990s, she served as an executive for DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, and Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. Whitman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
from 1998 to 2008. During her ten years with the company, she oversaw expansion from 30 employees and $4 million in annual revenue to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue.
In February 2009, Whitman announced her candidacy for Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
, becoming the third woman in a twenty year period to run for the office. She won the Republican primary in June 2010. The fourth wealthiest woman in the state of California with a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2010, she spent more of her own money on the race than any other political candidate spent on a single election in American history, spending $144 million total of her own fortune and $178.5 million including donors. Whitman lost to Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
in the November 2 election.
Early life and education
Whitman was born in Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York, the daughter of Hendricks Hallett Whitman and Margaret (née Goodhue) Whitman. She attended Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 4,975.Cold Spring Harbor is in the Town of Huntington.-History:...
, graduating after three years in 1974. In her memoirs she says she was in the top ten of her class. She had wanted to be a doctor, so she studied math and science at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. However, after spending a summer selling advertisements for a magazine, she switched to studying economics, earning a B.A. with honors in 1977. Whitman then obtained an M.B.A.
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in 1979.
Whitman is married to Griffith Harsh IV
Griffith R. Harsh
Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV is an American neurosurgeon currently married to Meg Whitman.- Personal life :Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV was born in St. Louis in 1953. The son of his namesake, Griffith Harsh III, the younger Griff became determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a...
, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford University Medical Center represents the Stanford Hospital and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and is located at 300 Pasteur Drive in Stanford, California. Stanford Hospital provides both general acute care services and tertiary medical care for patients locally, nationally and...
. They have two sons. She has lived in Atherton, California
Atherton, California
Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200...
, since March 1998. Whitman College
Whitman College, Princeton University
Whitman College is one of the six residential colleges at Princeton University, New Jersey, United States. The college is named after Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, following her $30 million donation to build the college. The structure was designed by architect Demetri Porphyrios...
, a residential college
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
completed in 2007 at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, is named after Meg Whitman following her $30 million donation.
Career
Beginning her career in 1979 as a brand manager at Procter & GambleProcter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
in Cincinnati, Ohio, Whitman later moved on to work as a consultant at Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
's San Francisco office. She then rose through the ranks to achieve the position of senior Vice President.
Whitman became vice president of strategic planning at The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in 1989. Two years later she joined the Stride Rite Corporation
Stride Rite Corporation
The Stride Rite Corporation is a marketer of children's footwear in the United States and is a major marketer of athletic and casual footwear for children and adults...
, before becoming president and CEO of Florists' Transworld Delivery
Florists' Transworld Delivery
-Going public:In 1994, FTD began a process of demutualization.On December 19, 1994, a precursor to the FTD Corporation, a private, for-profit company, acquired FTD, which then divided FTD into two organizations: FTD Incorporated, a for profit corporation, and FTD Association, a non-profit trade...
in 1995.
As Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's Playskool Division General Manager, she oversaw global management and marketing of two children's brands, Playskool
Playskool
Playskool is an American company that produces educational toys and games for children. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.-History:...
and Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head! is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in...
starting in January 1997. She also imported the UK's children's television show Teletubbies
Teletubbies
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was...
into the U.S.
eBay
Whitman joined eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
on March 1998, when it had 30 employees and revenues of approximately $4 million. During her time as CEO, the company grew to approximately 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue by 2008. Originally, when Whitman had joined eBay, she found the website as a simple black and white webpage with courier font
Courier (typeface)
Courier is a monospaced slab serif typeface designed to resemble the output from a strike-on typewriter. The typeface was designed by Howard "Bud" Kettler in 1955...
. On her first day, the site crashed for eight hours. She believed the site to be confusing and began by building a new executive team. Whitman organized the company by splitting it into twenty-three business categories. She then assigned executives to each, including some 35,000 subcategories. In 2004, Whitman made several key changes in her management team. Jeff Gordon took over PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
, Matt Bannick took control of international operations and Bill Cobb was placed in control of U.S. operations, which has the colorful U.S. logo, while each international site has unique branding.
Shortly after taking the company public
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
, Whitman told how stock for the company would rise 80 points and fall 50 points in a single day. Soon after, Whitman received a call at her eBay office from Arthur Levitt, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She called in her general counsel and the two sat down and answered the line on speaker phone. Instead of any perceived negative reaction to stock volatility
Volatility (finance)
In finance, volatility is a measure for variation of price of a financial instrument over time. Historic volatility is derived from time series of past market prices...
, Levitt was calling to ask about the company going public and was concerned about whether the SEC was customer-friendly. He also discussed his interest in collectible Depression era glass
Depression glass
Depression glass is clear or colored translucent glassware that was distributed free, or at low cost, in the United States around the time of the Great Depression. The Quaker Oats Company, and other food manufacturers and distributors, put a piece of glassware in boxes of food, as an incentive to...
, post 1929.
During Whitman's tenure as CEO, eBay completed the purchase of Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
for $4.1B in cash and stock in September 2005. In 2009, Skype was sold by eBay at a valuation of $2.75B.
In June 2007, while preparing for an interview with Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, Whitman allegedly shoved her subordinate, communications employee Young Mi Kim. Of the incident, Whitman related, "In any high-pressure working environment, tensions can surface." Kim also stated, "Yes, we had an unfortunate incident, but we resolved it in a way that speaks well for her and for eBay." The matter was resolved after a $200,000 settlement.
Whitman resigned as CEO of eBay in November 2007, but remained on the board and served as an advisor to new CEO John Donahoe
John Donahoe
John Donahoe is an American businessman and the President and CEO of eBay Inc. since March 31, 2008, succeeding Meg Whitman, who stepped down from the role after 10 years, and who continues to serve on the company's Board of Directors....
until late 2008. She was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2008. "I've said for some time that 10 years is roughly the right time to stay at the helm at a company like ours", she said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, adding that "it's time for new leadership, a new perspective and a new vision."
Whitman has received numerous awards and accolades for her work at eBay. On more than one occasion, she was named among the top five most powerful women by Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine. Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
named her the eighth-best-performing CEO of the past decade and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
named her as one of the 50 faces that shaped the decade.
Boards
Whitman also served on the board of directors of the eBay Foundation, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks SKG, until early 2009. She was appointed to the board of Goldman SachsGoldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
in October 2001 and then resigned in December 2002, amidst controversy that she had received shares in several public offerings managed by Goldman Sachs. (see Ties to Goldman Sachs for further detail) In March 2011, she was appointed a part-time special adviser at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
She has also joined the boards of Zipcar
Zipcar
Zipcar is an American membership-based car sharing company providing automobile reservations to its members, billable by the hour or day. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Cambridge, Massachusetts residents Antje Danielson and Robin Chase, and is now led by Scott Griffith, Chairman and Chief Executive...
and Teach For America
Teach For America
Teach For America is an American non-profit organization that aims to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting the nation's most promising future leaders to teach for two or more years in low-income communities throughout the United States...
, and re-joined the board of Procter & Gamble.
Hewlett-Packard
In January 2011, Whitman joined Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
's board of directors. She was named CEO on September 22, 2011.
Charitable foundation
Whitman founded a charitable foundation with husband Harsh on December 21, 2006, by donating to it 300,000 shares of eBay stock worth $9.4 million. By the end of its first year of operation, the Griffith R. Harsh IV and Margaret C Whitman Charitable Foundation had $46 million in assets and has disbursed $125,000 to charitable causes. Most of the money disbursed went to the Environmental Defense Fund. In 2010, Warren BuffettWarren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
asked Whitman to join the Giving Pledge in which billionaires would commit to donate half of their money to charity, and Whitman declined and said that she is committed to working with her foundation.
Political positions
Whitman was a supporter of former Bain Capital founder and MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2008 and was on his National Finance Team. She was also listed as Finance co-chair of Romney's exploratory committee
Exploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...
. However, after Romney stepped out of the race and endorsed McCain, Whitman joined McCain's presidential campaign as a national co-chair. McCain mentioned Whitman as a possible Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
during the second presidential debate in 2008.
Whitman emphasized three major areas: job creation, reduced state government spending, and reform of the state's K-12 educational system. She argued that it is best to start only a few things and finish them, instead of starting a lot of things and finishing few of them.
Education
In mid 2010, Whitman launched a Spanish-language television ad during the World Cup soccer games2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
. One advertisement is quoted by the LA Times, stating that "The Latino kids attending public schools in California today will be tomorrow's doctors, engineers, businessmen and teachers."
Environment
Whitman said that if elected, on her first day she would have suspended AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill 32, is a California State Law that fights climate change by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state...
, for a year to study its potential economic implications. AB32 requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. At the state GOP Convention in March 2010, Whitman described California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate change bill as a "job-killer." Whitman opposed Proposition 23
California Proposition 23 (2010)
Proposition 23 was a California ballot proposition that was on the November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot It was defeated by California voters during the statewide election by a 23% margin.. If passed, it would have suspended AB 32, a law enacted in 2006 that is in extenso, legally referred...
, which would delay the global warming law AB32 until California's unemployment falls to 5.5 percent and stays there for a year, stating that the proposition did not reasonably balance the need to protect jobs with the need to preserve environment.
On water issues, Whitman opposed further restrictions on water supply in the Central Valley and suggested President Obama should overturn a federal judge's ruling under provisions in the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
which reduced water supplies another 5% to 7%.
Illegal immigration
Whitman said that ArizonaArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
's approach to illegal immigration with Arizona SB 1070
Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act
The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act is a legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that at the time of passage was the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in recent U.S. history...
is wrong and that there are better ways to solve the problem. She said that, if she had lived in California in 1994, she would have voted against Proposition 187
California Proposition 187 (1994)
California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal aliens from using health care, public education, and other social services in the U.S. State of California...
concerning illegal immigrants. In an op-ed during her gubernatorial campaign, Whitman wrote, "Clearly, when examining our positions on immigration, there is very little over which Jerry Brown and I disagree".
She stated that illegal immigrant students should be prohibited from attending state-funded institutions of higher education. Currently, California state law permits this. In 2009, Whitman called for "a path to legalization" of illegal immigrants. In a 2010 interview on television station KTLA
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
, Whitman said, "I want to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers."
Marriage, abortion, marijuana
Whitman supported California's Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
in 2008, which reversed In re Marriage Cases
In re Marriage Cases
In re Marriage Cases 43 Cal.4th 757 [76 Cal.Rptr.3d 683, 183 P.3d 384], was a California Supreme Court case with the dual holding that "statutes that treat persons differently because of their sexual orientation should be subjected to strict scrutiny" and the existing "California legislative and...
and defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman in the state, but she is for civil unions and supports California's domestic partnership laws. Whitman believes that the same-sex marriages that took place before the ban should be recognized, and that gay and lesbian couples should be permitted to adopt children. Whitman has criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
for not defending Proposition 8 in the federal judicial system.
Whitman supports abortion rights.
Whitman has said that the legalization of marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
is not what any law enforcement person would suggest for any reason and that "this is the worst idea [she has] ever seen."
Infrastructure
Whitman does not support the proposed and partially voter-funded California High-Speed RailCalifornia high-speed rail
The California High-Speed Rail project is a planned future high-speed rail system in the state of California and headed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority . Initial funding for the project was approved by California voters on November 4, 2008, with the passage of Proposition 1A...
project. In a letter to the Sacramento Bee Whitman's spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said: "Meg believes the state cannot afford the costs associated with high-speed rail due to our current fiscal crisis." Her opponent Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
is in favor of the project.
Whitman has made monetary donations to various candidates and PACs. While these have gone to both Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, the donations are weighted to Republicans. Though Whitman has contributed to a few Democrats, including Senator Barbara Boxer
Barbara Boxer
Barbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
; donating $4,000 to her campaign and serving on the "Friends of Boxer" committee in 2004, she donated more than $225,000.00 during the same period to Republicans, eBay's PAC and to Americans for a Republican Majority, the PAC of former Rep. Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
.
2010 campaign for California Governor
On February 10, 2009, Whitman announced she would run for governor of California in the 2010 election. Her campaign was largely self-funded. She spent more of her own money on this effort than any other self-funded political candidate in U.S. history and ultimately lost to Jerry BrownJerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
.
According to final reports, Whitman spent $144 million from her own personal funds. The Daily Caller
The Daily Caller
The Daily Caller is a news website based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a focus on politics, original reporting and breaking news, founded by journalist and political pundit Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney...
said that her "penchant for throwing money around is well known in California political circles". The comment came in connection with the disclosure that her campaign had paid far above market rates for advertising on a conservative political blog. The blog's founder, addressing the issue of a possible attempt to influence the blog's content, said he had made clear to the Whitman campaign that "advertising and editorial are two very different things".
In June 2010, Whitman released a political ad, A Lifetime in Politics A Legacy of Failure, which seemingly contained one image of the FAIL Blog
Fail Blog
Fail Blog is a comedic blog website created in January 2008.-History:In January 2008, FAIL Blog was launched, with a picture of a warning sign featuring a drawing of a baby stuck in a stroller as the site’s first upload. The site grew steadily in popularity; in May 2008, FAIL Blog was sold to Pet...
website, making it appear in the ad as if Jerry Brown had been the subject of one of the website's namesake "fails". Ben Huh, founder of the Cheezburger Network, of which failblog.org is a part, demanded an apology and the removal of the video, stating that the image was faked, and that the website is non-partisan and has never endorsed a particular political candidate or party.
On November 2, 2010, at 11:35 pm, Whitman conceded the election to her opponent, Jerry Brown, stating "We've come up a little short."
Voting record
The Sacramento BeeThe Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...
reported that Whitman did not vote for 28 years, after reviewing her voting records in California. Whitman has described her voting record as "atrocious", apologized for it, and stated that she is happy to discuss the matter. Whitman answered questions about her record in September, replying, "And I think the reason for many years, I wasn't as engaged in the political process and should have been."
Housekeeper controversy
In September 2010, Nicky Diaz Santillan revealed that she was employed in the Whitman household as a housekeeper and nanny from 2000–2009 despite her status as an undocumented worker. Whitman's campaign released documents which she says Santillan provided prior to her employment including a driver's license, social security ID, and application. Santillan says Whitman knew she was undocumented, producing a 2003 letter from the Social Security Administration stating that her Social Security number did not match her name. Whitman initially stated that they "never received those letters", however, after a hand-written note on the document was shown, believed to be from Whitman's husbandGriffith R. Harsh
Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV is an American neurosurgeon currently married to Meg Whitman.- Personal life :Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV was born in St. Louis in 1953. The son of his namesake, Griffith Harsh III, the younger Griff became determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a...
, they acknowledged they may have received it, but forgot. Santillan's attorney, Gloria Allred
Gloria Allred
Gloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
, states that Santillan was fired for the sake of the campaign. Whitman's campaign maintains that this is a political attack, stating that Allred is a Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
supporter. Brown, Allred and Santillan all deny this. Crystal Williams, Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association stated "Not only is accepting the documents all the law required [Whitman] to do, but there's a counterbalancing anti-discrimination law that keeps her from probing further or demanding different documents." Others disagree; immigration lawyer Greg Siskind states Whitman was the employer, and the documents by law needed to be signed by her but were not, nor did they have a social security number on them; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted that Whitman "hired her, paid her and had direct contact with her for nine years", so should have known her legal status. The L.A. Times noted that Latino voters were more likely interested that Whitman treated Santillan "like a piece of garbage" when the maid asked for help finding an immigration attorney, and Whitman allegedly stated "you don't know me and I don't know you".
Ties to Goldman Sachs
Goldman SachsGoldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
, whose executives donated $100,000 to the Whitman campaign, manages a part of Whitman's fortune. As CEO of eBay, Whitman earned approximately $1.78 million resulting from a practice known as spinning
Spinning (IPO)
Spinning is the act or practice of an investment bank offering under-priced shares of a company's initial public offerings to the senior executives of a third party company in exchange for future business with the investment bank. This conflict of interest was a relatively common way for...
whereby executives who did business with Goldman Sachs could reap profits by getting early deals before the public on hot IPOs offered by the bank. While Whitman was on Goldman’s board, she served on the compensation committee, which approved multi-million dollar bonus packages for then-CEO Henry Paulson
Henry Paulson
Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...
and his top aides. Public domain documents reveal that Whitman has a multi-million dollar stake in 21 investment funds managed by Goldman. Given Goldman's major investments in California state finances, all these ties to Goldman Sachs led to considerable controversy during the gubernatorial campaign. In response, Whitman vowed to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest, and publicly stated that she would immediately sell her Goldman stock and put her Goldman-managed investments in a blind trust
Blind trust
A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling...
if elected governor.
Further reading
External links
- Meg Whitman for Governor official campaign site
- Billionaire Women We Envy, ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, March 6, 2007 - Is California Sold on Governor Meg Whitman?, Sheelah Kolhatkar, Time Magazine, December 14, 2009
- Meg Whitman Celebrates Gubernatorial Nomination with husband Dr. Griffith Harsh, Vitals, June 9, 2010