Hewlett-Packard says top EDS executive to retire

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co. on Friday said the top executive of Electronic Data Systems, a technology services company it bought for $13.9 billion, is retiring.

Ron Rittenmeyer, who joined EDS in 2005 and became CEO in 2007, will leave at the end of the year, the company said.

HP also said it is folding EDS into its existing technology solutions group. The company named Joe Eazor, 46, senior vice president of EDS. He will report to Ann Livermore, executive vice president of the technology solutions group.

HP, already the world's largest PC maker and a major supplier of printers and their highly profitable ink, stepped further into IBM Corp.'s territory with the EDS acquisition.

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