President Biden nominates former HP boss Meg Whitman as Ambassador to Kenya

Nominated as US ambassador to Kenya, former Hewlett Packard boss Meg Whitman. [Courtesy]

US President Joe Biden has nominated tech-industry leader Meg Whitman as the Ambassador to Kenya, the White House announced on Wednesday.

If approved, she will succeed Kyle McCarter who resigned from the role following the change of guard at the White House in January 2021. McCarter was appointed by former US President Donald Trump in 2019.

Whitman doubles up as a business mogul with experience in the political scene and is a former President and CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP), eBay, and FTD.

She is also the former Chief Executive Officer of Quibi, a streaming content platform for mobile devices. The firm was closed in October 2020.

In 2010, the American business executive ran for governor in California, US as a Republican but lost to Democrat Jerry Brown.

She, however, supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Joe Biden in 2020. 

Last year, she donated $500,000 (Sh56,450,000) to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that benefited the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The White House, in a statement, said Whitman boasts several honours. “Meg has been inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame and the U.S. Business Hall of Fame".

According to Forbes, 65-year-old Whitman has accumulated a $5 billion (Sh564b) net worth from eBay and private practice. She is best known for taking eBay from $5.7 million to $8 billion in sales as CEO from 1998 to 2008.

She currently sits on the Board of Procter and Gamble and General Motors, and the National Board chairperson at Teach for America.

Whitman holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts/Science Degree from Princeton University.