ABSTRACT
Certain business leaders believe that by becoming a celebrity CEO they enhance the corporation’s public persona. Splashy acquisitions, such as Mattel’s acquisition of The Learning Company, or Hewlett-Packard’s of Compaq Computer, add to the mark a CEO has made for herself. At Hewlett-Packard, “The Cult of Carly” and “All Carly, All the Time” cemented Carleton Fiorina into her place among celebrities. Six months after her entry into the CEO suite, Carly Fiorina appeared on the Forbes cover as a “super hero savior” of Hewlett-Packard, a company that had not met with any failure, had a proud corporate culture/brand, and needed no savior.1
