One of Britain's top female executives to scoop millions as new boss of US tech giant

Updated: 11:22 EDT, 4 November 2026 Former GSK boss Emma Walmsley has been hired to take the controls of US-based computer maker HP as it grapples with AI-driven turbulence.Walmsley will take over in the new year at the PC and printer maker as it faces a memory chip crunch that has pushed up prices and driven an industry downturn.It is the latest change of sector for one of Britain’s best-known executives – who has no experience running a tech hardware business, though is a board member at Microsoft.The appointment puts her in charge of a company whose name is synonymous with the rise of personal computing and the emergence of Silicon Valley as the hub of US tech.Its history dates back to the founding of Hewlett-Packard in 1939. In 2015 it split into two companies – computer and printer maker HP and corporate hardware and service business HPE.Walmsley previously led FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant GSK for nine years and before joining the firm spent 17 years at French beauty group L’Oreal.Her final year in charge at GSK saw her paid £15.7 million and her overall earnings for running the company total more than £80 million. Emma Walmsley was paid £15.7 million by GSK last yearWalmsley’s pay package at HP has not been disclosed but its previous full-time boss Enrique Lores was paid £17 million for 2025 – his last year in charge before leaving to take over at payments firm PayPal.HP has been run since February by interim chief executive Bruce Broussard. He will become chairman when Walmsley takes over as CEO on 4 January.Walmsley led GSK through the pandemic and oversaw a transformation of the company including a spin-off of its consumer division – which includes brands such as Sensodyne and Panadol – into a separate listed firm, Haleon.She also fought off a campaign by feared activist investor Elliott Management to oust her.But she oversaw a 10 per cent decline in the firm’s share price amid investor worries about the group's thinning drugs pipeline.Walmsley handed over the reins to Luke Miels at the start of this year.In her new job, she will be expected to try to revive a sluggish PC market and position HP’s products to take advantage of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.HP, like rivals Dell, Apple, and Lenovo, is caught up in a global squeeze on the supply of memory chips – as the massive roll-out of AI data centres hoovers up much of the available capacity.The strain showed in August, when it revealed that the volume of PC shipments had fallen 16 per cent in the latest quarter – though revenues rose 18 per cent thanks to a shift towards pricier products including AI-enabled PCs.And last month, the company said that it was not providing a financial outlook for 2027 – and that it assumes there will be a mid-single digit decline in the volume of PC sales across the industry.Shares are up by 27 per cent so far this year but are down by about 30 per cent from their peak in 2022. They jumped a further 6 per cent after Walmsley's appointment.DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you