[fiorina] they were down on me as a woman

Hewlett-Packard CEO for six years, her style inflamed critics and after her financial results fell short, she was dumped. In her memoirs ''Tough Choices'', Fiorina says she was unfairly scrutinized as a woman in business and unproductively opposed by people who feared the big changes she had to make at HP. Besides her $21 million severance pay, she began 2006 with 850,000 HP shares - a stake that size is worth $31 million now. Her name emerged last year as a candidate for World Bank president. Fiorina has advised President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on tech policy; she won praise for defining a new vision but generally she is considered to have fallen short on day-to-day operational matters, unlike Mark Hurd. Under her, HP's stock sank 56 percent. Her view? ''I feel incredibly blessed,'' she said. ''I am an unexpected success story to myself.''