Breaking: Meg Whitman to step down as CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise next year

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chief Executive Meg Whitman will leave her role in early 2018, the company announced Tuesday.

Antonio Neri, HP Enterprise’s current president, will take over Feb. 1.

The move marks the end of a turbulent period for the Palo Alto firm, which was restructured under Whitman to adapt to the rise of cloud computing and the decline of personal computers.

“Today, Hewlett Packard moves forward as four industry-leading companies that are each well positioned to win in their respective markets,” Whitman said in a prepared statement. “Now is the right time for Antonio and a new generation of leaders to take the reins of HPE. I have tremendous confidence that they will continue to build a great company that will thrive well into the future.”

Whitman had been considered earlier this year to replace embattled Uber CEO Travis Kalanick before the ride-hailing giant eventually decided on its current head, Dara Khosrowshahi.

Whitman tried to dispel rumors of her departure at the time, tweeting in July: “I’m not going anywhere.”

The 61-year-old Whitman, who was appointed CEO in 2011, will remain a member of HP Enterprise’s board of directors, the company said.

Neri, 50, joined the company in 1995 as a customer service engineer in a call center. He worked his way up, taking various roles before being named president of HP Enterprise in June.

The company said in September that it planned to lay off at least 5,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce.

HP Enterprise was established in 2015 after Hewlett-Packard Co.’s split into two companies. HP Inc. sells personal computers and printers; HP Enterprise sells commercial technology services and products.

HP Enterprise shares closed at $14.12 on Tuesday and are down about 38% from a year ago.

UPDATES:

2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with Times staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m.