Mark Hurd Resignation: Top 10 Candidates to Replace Him

News that Mark Hurd is resigning as Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive is only minutes old, but already the focus is on who will be his successor.

The company told investors during a conference call this afternoon that candidates inside and outside the company will be considered.

Here, according to people familiar with the company, is a list of top Silicon Valley and technology-company executives that H-P could reach out to:

Todd Bradley, an executive vice president who runs H-P’s personal computer business. PCs are the heart and soul of H-P and under Bradley’s leadership H-P has become the world’s largest PC company, surpassing Dell and International Business Machines. The success of the typically low-profit-margin PC business depends on keeping costs down, which Bradley has done with an iron fist. He is the former CEO of Palm (which H-P purchased this year) and he has held senior positions at GE Capital and Gateway Computer.

Ann Livermore: An H-P veteran of more than 20 years, she runs the company’s enterprise business, which includes its highest growth, highest profit-margin products, such as technology services and corporate storage and services, including the EDS business. One possible strike: Livermore was passed over for the CEO post when Hurd got the job in 2005.

John Joyce: He is a managing director at Silver Lake, a technology focused private-equity firm, sits on H-P’s board and used to work at IBM.

Cathie Lesjak, interim CEO. She’s telling investors this afternoon that she’s not interested in the full time job. In her 17 years at H-P, she’s worked in the company’s Treasury department helping managing the company’s books.

Bob Wayman, former H-P finance chief who retired in 2006. He was H-P lifer, joining the company in 1969. He served as an interim CEO after Carly Fiorina stepped down in 2005.

Here are possible external candidates, which include stars in the tech world.

Ned Hooper, chief strategy officer and M&A chief at Cisco and potential heir apparent to Cisco CEO John Chambers. Cisco has been grooming him for the eventual top spot, but the chance to run H-P–fast becoming one of Cisco’s largest competitors–could be irresistible.

Steve Elop, chief of Microsoft’s business division, which handles MS Office. He was formerly chief operating officer of No. 2 networking company Juniper Networks. Known as a no-nonsense taskmaster, Elop is a veteran in the technology industry, having served in senior positions at Adobe Systems and Macromedia.

Ray Lane, Oracle’s former CEO who left in 2000 after a spate with company founder Larry Ellison. Lane now works at venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Greg Brown, Motorola co-CEO, who has been cited as helping to turn around the long struggling mobile phone company.

Kevin Johnson, former head of Microsoft’s online and Windows operations. He was heavily involved in Microsoft’s failed push to buy Yahoo in 2008 and left that year to become Juniper’s chief executive.