Meg Whitman | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Kenya[1] | |
In office August 5, 2022 – November 13, 2024[2] | |
President | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Kyle McCarter |
Succeeded by | Marc Dillard Chargé d'affaires |
Personal details | |
Born | Margaret Cushing Whitman August 4, 1956 Huntington, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Parent | Father:Hendricks Hallett Whitman Jr |
Education | Princeton University (AB) Harvard University (MBA) |
Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is an American business executive, diplomat, and politician who had served as the United States ambassador to Kenya since 2022 until her resignation on November 13, 2024.[4] Whitman was president and chief executive officer (CEO) of eBay from 1998 to 2008. Afterwards, she became president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise from 2011 to 2015, during the company's major split. She then served as the CEO of Quibi from its launch in 2018 until its closure in 2020. A member of the Republican Party, she ran for governor of California but was defeated by former governor Jerry Brown in California's 2010 gubernatorial election. Whitman was a senior presidential campaign official for Republican Mitt Romney in both 2008 and 2012, although she supported Democrats Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the 2016 presidential election and the 2020 presidential election, respectively.
Whitman was an executive at The Walt Disney Company, where she was vice president of Strategic Planning throughout the 1980s. In the 1990s, she was an executive for DreamWorks, Procter & Gamble, and Hasbro. During Whitman's 10 years with eBay, she oversaw its expansion from 30 employees and $4 million in annual revenue, to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue. In 2014, Whitman was named 20th in Forbes List of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.[5]
In 2008, Whitman was cited by The New York Times as among the women most likely to become the first female president of the United States.[6] She ran for governor of California in 2010, winning the Republican primary. The fifth-wealthiest woman in California with a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2010,[7] she spent, at the time, more of her own money on a single election than any other political candidate in American history.[8][9] The $144 million of her own fortune she used for the race (the campaign spent $178.5 million in total, including money from donors)[10] was surpassed only by Michael Bloomberg in the 2020 presidential election.[11] Whitman was defeated by Democratic former Governor Jerry Brown in the 2010 California gubernatorial election, 54% to 41%.[12]
In December 2021, Whitman was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States Ambassador to Kenya. She was confirmed in July 2022 and took office the following month. In November 2024, she presented her resignation as US Ambassador to Kenya.[13]