Two top executives at IBM (NYSE: IBM) have just said “no” to the possibility of becoming chief executive officer at rival HP (NYSE: HPQ), according to the Reuters news service.
Steve Mills, the head of IBM software, and Virginia Rometty, the lead for sales and marketing, stick with Big Blue, Reuters says.
Reuters sited “people familiar with the other”
HP is seeking a replacement for Mark Hurd, who left the world’s No. 1 PC maker six weeks ago. Hurd now works at Oracle.
Rometty just cracked the top 10 on Fortune magazine’s
IBM, which employs some 10,000 people in the Triangle area, isn’t looking for a new top executive as chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano said recently that he isn’t “going anywhere.”
Mills leads IBM software and systems.
Rometty directs sales, marketing and strategy.
Both have been mentioned as possible successors to Palmisano in the wake of Robert Moffat’s departure from the firm following an insider trading scandal. Moffat was a big favorite in discussion about who would be IBM’s next leader.
Internet entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, a board member at HP, is among the executives leading the HP search effort.
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