HP Names Former GSK Chief Emma Walmsley as CEO From January 2027

Walmsley will take over on January 4, 2027, HP said in a press release filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. She succeeds Bruce Broussard, the former Humana chief executive and HP director who has been interim CEO since February. Broussard will become chair of the board on the same date, replacing Chip Bergh, who has chaired HP since 2017 and will stay on as a director.

The appointment puts a consumer goods and pharmaceutical executive in charge of one of the world's largest hardware makers at a difficult moment. HP, like Dell Technologies, Apple and Lenovo, is caught in a global squeeze on memory chips as AI data centre construction absorbs much of the available supply, Reuters reported. Analysts quoted by Reuters noted that Walmsley has no previous experience in technology hardware.

She does bring a long-standing view into the technology sector from the boardroom. Walmsley has sat on Microsoft's board for seven years, according to HP. She ran GSK from April 2017 to December 2025, the first woman to lead the British drugmaker, and steered it towards specialty medicines and vaccines while overseeing the separation of its consumer healthcare business. She joined GSK in 2010 and became chief executive of its consumer healthcare unit in 2015, after 17 years at L'Oréal.

Walmsley described HP as "an iconic company with a defining role in shaping the future of work on a global scale", and said the company would focus on harnessing the AI era. Bergh praised her "people-first leadership approach", while Broussard said he looked forward to "supporting her as she leads HP into its next phase of growth."

Her package includes a base salary of $1.45 million, a target bonus of 200 per cent of salary, a $30 million inducement equity award and relocation benefits of up to $2.5 million, according to TipRanks, which reported the terms from HP's disclosure.

HP shares rose 5.87 per cent after the announcement, according to market data shown by Investing.com.

HP sells PCs, printers, software, services and subscriptions in more than 180 countries. The company has been pitching AI-capable PCs as a reason for businesses to upgrade their fleets, but higher memory costs have pushed up component prices across the industry and weighed on device demand. Qualcomm this week reported a 26 per cent fall in its handset chip sales, which it partly blamed on rising memory costs hurting phone demand.

Broussard will remain interim chief executive until the end of the day on January 3, 2027, according to HP's filing, which means he will lead the company through the release of its fiscal fourth-quarter results later this month.