Well, if there’s anyone that could successfully extract value from used-up old handset makers, it would be private equity…

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc. priced its initial public offering at $38 a share, giving the world’s No. 1 online social network a $104 billion valuation in the third largest offering in U.S. history.

Lane’s new role as executive chairman at Hewlett-Packard stirred up concern at Kleiner Perkins with some partners unhappy over his dual responsibilities.

(Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co is looking to sell Palm’s webOS mobile software platform, a deal that could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars but less than the $1.2 billion that HP paid last year, four sources close to the matter said. Advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HP is trying to figure out how [...]

Listed, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard has scaled back or eliminated several parts of its corporate venture capital investment structure, said multiple sources who spoke with peHUB. Further, our sources said, the company is likely to make an announcement within the next two weeks regarding potential M&A plans and other organizational shifts for H-P as the company tries [...]

The bodies are piling up in the boardroom.

Last night, Hewlett Packard stock soared on speculation that the board may oust Léo Apotheker, its CEO of nearly a year, and perhaps replace him with Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay and former candidate for governor of California. (Update: HP made it official today, announcing that Whitman is its new CEO.)

(Reuters) – The bubble in mobile phone technology patent values may just have popped.

Now that Google Inc. has agreed to a $12.5 billion deal to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. — scooping up a trove of 17,000 phone-related patents to give itself some ground to defend its Android operating system — the most motivated buyer looks to be off the market.

“The game is completely changed as a result of Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The arms race is essentially over,” said John Amster, chief executive of RPX, a company that advises customers on patent purchases. “They have basically created through acquisition what they needed.”

Google’s move was widely seen as a response to its loss in the auction of 6,000 Nortel patents to a group led by Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. and Research in Motion, which fetched an unprecedented …

Hewlett Packard Co. of Palo, Alto, Calif., named five new board members. The new directors include Booz & Co. CEO Shumeet Banerji, General Atlantic LLC’s Special Advisor Gary Reiner and Alcatel-Lucent’s former CEO Patricia Russo. AXA Private Equity’s CEO Dominique Senequier and eBay Inc.’s former president and CEO Meg Whitman were also appointed as board members. All five new directors will stand for re-election at the next annual meeting in March. The additions raised the director count to 17. The size will be reduced to 13 members after the shareholder meeting.

Google: Big news, Schmidt out, but the company’s already shifting gears, prepping a Groupon competitor

Embargoed: Google also apparently managed to talk themselves out of getting scooped

Everyday Struggle: Venture capital works to regain its footing in the Northwest

No Gov, New Gig: Meg Whitman takes a seat on the H-P board, as does Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity

Kevin Fong, the former chairman of data storage company 3PAR Inc., likes to talk about poker, often uses poker analogies and says he studies the card game. He even has a home in Las Vegas. But you won’t find him spending time in casinos, playing Texas Hold ‘em and flipping chips. He says he doesn’t [...]