It seemed like it could be a perfect match, but Meg Whitman says she won't run Uber.
Despite much speculation, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO halted the rumor mill when she tweeted late Thursday night that she would stay put at the company she created two years ago.
"Normally I do not comment on rumors, but the speculation about my future and Uber has become a distraction," Whitman said. "So let me make this as clear as I can. I am fully committed to HPE and plan to remain the company's CEO. We have a lot of work still to do at HPE and I am not going anywhere. Uber's CEO will not be Meg Whitman."
Uber has a sexual harassment problem, a leadership vacuum, labor woes and faces political strife, all of which have led to a severe public relations problem. After her decade running eBay, her narrow loss in the 2008 California gubernatorial race and her transformation of Hewlett-Packard, Whitman seemingly had all the necessary chops to turn around Uber.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Whitman had met with Uber's board and was at the top of Uber's short list to become its next leader. The same day, Whitman stepped down from Hewlett-Packard Inc. (HPQ)'s board, on which she served as chair. In 2015 HP split into two companies, Enterprise and Inc., and Whitman became the CEO of the former and the chair of the latter. The gears appeared to be in motion for her to jump to the ride sharing company.
Related: Uber says it can't behave like a startup anymore
Now that Whitman has pulled her hat out of the ring, Uber will likely draw from an even shorter short list. Bloomberg reports that outgoing GE CEO Jeff Immelt is under strong consideration. Immelt announced in June that he will step down as CEO next week, and he'll leave the board by the end of the year.
A spokeswoman for Immelt declined to comment.
Uber's former CEO Travis Kalanick resigned a month ago after an ongoing crisis at the company. Following an investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder into the company's leadership and culture, Uber asked Kalanick to take a leave of absence. It also ousted several high-ranking executives and announced a change in its protocols.
The company said it hopes to hire a new CEO by September.
