Emma Walmsley is joining an exclusive club. When she takes over HP in January, the former GSK chief will become a two-time CEO of a major multinational, having crossed three industries to get there.
Her trajectory offers a revealing study in how executives build careers that make them attractive to boards across industries.
Walmsley spent 17 years at L’Oréal, holding management positions across four global cities before running its consumer products business in China. She joined GSK in 2010, became CEO of its consumer healthcare division in 2015, and took the top job in 2017, becoming the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company.
Over nearly nine years, she navigated activist pressure, the pandemic, and the separation of Haleon, GSK’s consumer healthcare company. She also faced investor criticism over GSK’s drug pipeline and shareholder returns. Since 2019, she has served on Microsoft’s board, gaining exposure to the technology industry and a company central to HP’s PC business.
Her appointment follows the departure of Enrique Lores, who rose from engineering intern to CEO during more than three decades at HP before leaving for PayPal in February. After nine months under interim chief Bruce Broussard, HP has chosen a leader whose career followed a strikingly different trajectory.
Her next assignment presents a different commercial challenge.
HP says it needs to unlock growth as AI transforms personal computing. Analysts see more immediate pressures. Rising memory-chip prices are squeezing manufacturers, PC demand faces uncertainty, and the printing business continues to contract.
Walmsley joins a prominent group of executives recruited for another turn in the corner office. Kraft Heinz appointed former Kellanova chief Steve Cahillane in 2026. Verizon tapped former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman in 2025. Starbucks recruited Chipotle chief Brian Niccol in 2024, while Papa John’s hired former Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor the same year. Mary Dillon, who previously led U.S. Cellular and Ulta Beauty, became Foot Locker’s CEO in 2022.
Their appointments reflect the appeal of executives with established track records running large organizations, navigating competitive pressures, and leading corporate transformations.
According to Spencer Stuart, 21% of incoming S&P 1500 CEOs in 2024 had previously led a public company, up eight percentage points over three years.
But hiring repeat CEOs comes with a revealing complication. In a study of 855 S&P 500 CEOs, Spencer Stuart found that 70% of those who went on to lead another S&P 500 company delivered stronger market-adjusted shareholder returns in their first CEO role. Researchers warned that experienced CEOs can rely too heavily on familiar strategies.
For Walmsley, whose experience restructuring GSK helped establish her credentials, HP presents a test of how readily those skills transfer to a technology business confronting different competitive pressures.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
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