X

Kodak CEO post goes to Orbitz chairman Jeff Clarke

Under Clarke's leadership, the onetime photography powerhouse will focus on business-to-business imaging services.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke.
New Kodak CEO Jeff Clarke. Kodak

Jeff Clarke, the chairman of the board at travel site Orbitz and a former executive at Hewlett-Packard, will be Eastman Kodak's new CEO.

The company announced the news Wednesday, saying that Clarke would help Kodak in its reinvention following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy emergence in September. The company plans to focus on commercial imaging services, and Clarke himself has said that he will focus Kodak's efforts in that space.

Kodak, once a dominant force in the photography industry, has fallen to its knees at the hands of more-capable competitors in imaging services. The company went through a bankruptcy restructuring and came out in September saying that it was healthier and ready to compete in the enterprise.

Clarke's pedigree is quite strong. In addition to serving as Orbitz chairman since 2007, he worked at HP as an executive in charge of integrating Compaq into that company's PC business. He also co-founded venture-capital firm Augusta Columbia Capital. Clarke will remain on with Orbitz while serving as Kodak CEO. He'll also serve on Kodak's Board of Directors.