Once among the most powerful women in American business, Carly Fiorina emerged as a leading contender in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign alongside Donald Trump, another outsider from the corporate world.
Fiorina's performance in the party's Wednesday night debate elicited praise on social media and from political strategists as she commanded the stage equally with the likes of billionaire Trump, 69, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, 62.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Fiorina, 61, was one of Trump's strongest challengers from 10 candidates anxious to pile on the real-estate mogul and former reality-TV star leading in opinion polls.
A breast cancer survivor who lost a stepdaughter to drug addiction, Fiorina was forced to resign from HP in 2005 amid weak earnings as the company struggled to digest a $19 billion merger with then-rival computer maker Compaq.
