Ex-HP PC Boss Lands at Tibco for BI Software

Todd Bradley, the former longstanding boss of Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) Printing and PC division who, along with Enterprise boss Dave Donatelli, was removed by chief executive Meg Whitman last summer following significant losses in both units, has landed at Tibco Software, a business intelligence software developer.

Tibco, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded in 1997 by Vivek Ranadivé, who also serves as the company’s chairman and chief executive. Ranadivé is a well-known entrepreneur, technology visionary and best-selling author. In 2013 he bought controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings professional basketball team.

Bradley is regarded as a staunch champion of the channel. As president, he will be Tibco’s sales and marketing face to the world and tasked with global responsibility for the customer-facing functions of sales, marketing and professional services, concentrating on creating and increasing value for the company.

Bradley will report to Ranadivé, who sounded elated to have him on board. “Todd is a titan of the tech industry, having operated at a scale very few have experienced,” said Ranadivé. “I am excited to have Todd join the team and help me continue to build one of the great software companies of the 21st century.”

Including his nine years at HP, Bradley sports a 25-year financial industry and IT background, including prior senior roles at GE Capital, Dun & Bradstreet, Gateway, FedEx and Palm. He joined HP in 2005 with the Palm acquisition.

Bradley said he joined Tibco for the opportunity in Big Data. “I am joining Tibco because I believe in the enormous role Tibco will play as a leader in Big Data and because of Vivek Ranadivé,” he said. “Vivek is one of the great pioneers of the technology industry, seeing the Big Data opportunity a decade before the term ‘Big Data’ existed. I believe Tibco is one of the largest opportunities in technology.”

Bradley’s appointment earned support from industry heavyweights Qualcomm (QCOM) and Seagate (STX), with the mobile chip maker’s executive chairman Paul Jacobs calling him a “strong leader,” and Steve Luczo, the storage vendor’s chairman, president and chief executive officer referring to him as a “great addition to the Tibco team.” Jacobs said Bradley and Ranadivé are a “great combination of technology, vision and skill.”

Bradley at one point ran businesses at HP that accounted for some $65 billion in annual revenue, or nearly half of the vendor’s overall sales. He reportedly exited HP with some $12 million in his pocket from a special vesting deal he struck with the company as part of his sidelining.