HP Inc. Appoints Former GSK Chief Emma Walmsley as New CEO

HP Inc. (HPQ) named former GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley as its next CEO on Wednesday, permanently filling the top job after Enrique Lores left in February to run PayPal. The appointment takes effect Jan. 4, 2027. Walmsley succeeds interim CEO Bruce Broussard, who will become chair of HP's board in January. HP shares closed 5.9% higher at $29.93 on Wednesday, according to SentiSense price data, in a session when the broader market also rallied.

Walmsley ran British drugmaker GSK for nearly nine years, leading it through the pandemic, the rollout of an RSV vaccine and the separation of its consumer business into Haleon. Sales rose significantly and research spending doubled on her watch, but GSK's share price fell about 10% over her tenure, and she survived an Elliott Investment Management campaign that questioned her lack of a scientific background.

The job she inherits is a cost problem as much as a strategy problem. HP faces an unprecedented jump in memory chip costs that has already pushed it to raise prices on many PCs and redesign others, and it plans to cut 4,000 to 6,000 employees through fiscal 2028 by leaning on AI tools. Investors largely looked past HP's raised quarterly profit forecast in August on worries about future demand for computers and printers.

The appointment also changes Microsoft's (MSFT) board: Walmsley, a director since 2019, told the board she will not stand for re-election at the Dec. 8, 2026 annual meeting. Points to watch are how quickly she addresses PC pricing and the cost program, and who she brings in to fill the gap in hands-on technology experience that her pharmaceutical background leaves.