Carly Fiorina (Associated Press)
Republican Carly Fiorina has made her tenure as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO the centerpiece of her presidential campaign. But HP employees aren’t stepping up to help her become the nation’s CEO, it seems.
The Daily Beast this week took a look at the most recent campaign-finance records and found just two people who have worked with her at the company have donated to either Fiorina’s campaign or to the super PAC supporting her bid. No current employees show up among the people who contributed $200 or more to her campaign, according the most recent campaign-finance filings.
Fiorina’s rise in the polls has intensified scrutiny of her tumultuous six years at the helm of the tech giant, during which she laid off 30,000 workers and sent jobs overseas. The company’s board of directors fired her in 2005.
Fiorina defended her record during the recent televised debate on CNN. “We doubled the size of the company,” she said. “We quadrupled its top-line growth rate. We quadrupled its cash flow.”
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The Daily Beast looked at her campaign money through June 30 – before her strong debate performances and ascent in the polls. Fiorina had collected only $1.7 million at that point, putting her near the back of the GOP field in fundraising.
Details on her July-to-September fundraising won’t be public until later this month.
By the way, the two HP-affiliated folks who have backed Fiorina’s campaign are some big players. Ann Livermore, a nearly 30-year veteran of the company who now sits on its board, contributed $2,700 to Carly for President in June.
Thomas Perkins, the storied California venture capitalist who helped push for Fiorina’s firing during his time on HP’s board, contributed $25,000 to the pro-Fiorina super PAC in May.
