John Young, President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company for 14 years retired October 31 of this year and was replaced by Lewis Platt, former executive vice president and head of Hewlett Packard's Computer Systems Organization.
Since Young took over as CEO in 1978, HP's annual revenues have grown from less than $1 billion to a high last spring of more than $14 billion, 70% of which comes from computer-related products. Industry analysts believe the management change will have little negative impact on HP's direction, strength, and continuing rapid growth.
John's successor, Lewis Platt, has been with HP for 26 years. He has held the general manager position in HP's Analytical Products Group; Manufacturing Systems Group; and the Manufacturing, Medical, and Analytical Systems Sector. He headed HP's former Technical Systems Sector and Computer Products Sector, and became the general manager of the Computer Systems Organization in 1990. Mr. Platt was also elected to the HP Board of Directors, effective November 1.