Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina took to Twitter this morning to make official her intent to run for President of the United States in 2016 as a representative of the Republican Party. Fiorina will be up against fellow candidates for the part including U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, as well as author and doctor Ben Carson.
At the peak of her career in business, Fiorina was considered one of the most powerful women working in the tech industry. In the early 2000s, she was an integral part of the merger between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, which made her employer a global computing powerhouse.
However, her time at HP was also steeped in controversy. Fiorina was forced to resign as CEO in 2005, which followed a messy situation where plans of her exit were leaked to the press. Since then, she has been named as one of the worst tech CEOs of all time by publications ranging from CBS News to Complex.
Fiorina moved into the political sphere in 2008, contributing to John McCain’s presidential campaign. Even back then, she was tipped as a future candidate herself, thanks to her experience in business and her intent to establish a foundation of experience in politics.
2010 saw Fiorina run for US Senate, with a campaign that ended up being defined by a misjudged ‘Demon Sheep’ ad that went viral. While she was successful in being named the Republican candidate, she was unable to unseat the incumbent Barbara Boxer.
Speaking in a video posted to her Twitter account, Fiorina described the United States of America as being at a ‘pivotal point’, and stressed her intent to ‘restore possibilities for every American, regardless of their circumstances’. Expect to see plenty more from Fiorina over the next year, as she makes an attempt to charm voters and stake her claim to be the Republican Party’s next presidential candidate.
