Cara Carleton “Carly” Fiorina (née Sneed; born September 6, 1954) is an American businessperson, known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard and for her unsuccessful candidacies for the United States Senate and the Presidency of the United States. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has stated that, if he wins his party’s nomination, he would choose Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate.

After graduating from Stanford, Fiorina began her business career at AT&T in 1980, as a management trainee, and rose through the ranks to become the company’s first female Executive Officer. In 1995, 

In 2002, Fiorina oversaw what was then the largest technology sector merger in history, in which HP acquired rival personal computer manufacturer, Compaq. The transaction made HP the world’s largest seller of personal computers. HP subsequently laid off 30,000 U.S. employees. On February 9, 2005, she was forced to resign as Chief Executive Officer and Chair, after the company lost half of its value.

Fiorina was an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain‘s 2008 Presidential campaign. In 2010, Fiorina won the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in California. She lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.

On May 4, 2015, Fiorina announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, as the only woman running for the Republican nomination. On February 10, 2016, Fiorina suspended her campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination due to disappointing results in the New Hampshire primary election, and endorsed Ted Cruz on March 11, 2016