Arianna Packard Martell is the granddaughter of David Packard, a co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard technology company. She is a member of the board of directors for the Packard Humanities Institute, which her father, David Woodley Packard, founded.

She made headlines in 2010 for her strong opposition to then-California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina. ¹

Background

Arianna Packard Martell is an heir to the family that co-founded the Hewlett-Packard company, maker of computers and other technology products. Her grandfather was David Packard, the co-founder of the company and a former Nixon administration official. ²

Her father is David Woodley Packard, who founded the Packard Humanities Institute in 1999, which funds preservation activities, as well as arts and culture. The institute was a spinoff of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, taking $1.6 billion of the foundation’s endowment. ³

Ariana Packard Martell is currently a member of the board of directors for the Packard Humanities Institute. ⁴

She is joined on the institute’s board by other family members, Susan Packard Orr, the vice president of the board; Pamela Packard and Woodley Packard. Also serving on the board is William B. Hewlett, son of the other Hewlett-Packard co-founder, Walter Hewlett.

Ariana Packard is also listed as a member of the board of trustees for the American School of Classical Studies of Athens. ⁵

Political Activities

In the late 2000s, Packard Martell made contributions to a handful of Republican political candidates, most prominently 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain and Chuck DeVore, at the time a California State Assemblyman running for U.S. Senate from California. ⁶

Packard campaigned aggressively for DeVore and against the candidacy of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Arianna wrote a letter to three Republican U.S. Senators (James Inhofe and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Jon Kyl of Arizona) who had endorsed Fiorina for the GOP Senate nomination.

Packard noted the HP stock price drop under Fiorina, as well as Fiorina’s stance on Internet sales taxes, global warming, judicial nominations and affirmative action. “I know a little bit about Carly Fiorina, having watched her almost destroy the company my grandfather founded,” Ariana wrote to the senators. ⁷

At a Santa Clara fundraiser for DeVore, she said: “Some of you may guess from my last name that I got involved in this initially because I was really scared we’d end up with Sen. Carly Fiorina. That would be a disaster for California and a disaster for the country.” ⁸

DeVore lost the Republican Senate nomination, and Fiorina lost the general election to incumbent U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in November. Fiorina later unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, and Packard’s comments were frequently cited in opposition to her candidacy. ⁹

Personal Life

Arianna Packard Martell is married to Christopher Martell. In 2008, the couple bought a 4,900-square-foot home for $4.75 million in North Sea, a community in the town of Southampton, New York. ¹⁰

1. Mehta, Seema. “Packard Heir Travels to GOP Convention to Raise Money for Carly Fiorina Foe.” Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2010. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/03/packard-heir-travels-to-gop-convention-to-raise-money-for-fiorina-foe.html
2. Mehta, Seema. “Packard Heir Travels to GOP Convention to Raise Money for Carly Fiorina Foe.” Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2010. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/03/packard-heir-travels-to-gop-convention-to-raise-money-for-fiorina-foe.html
3. Marina Dundjerski, “Packard Pours $1.6 Billion Into Humanities Institute,” Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 29, 1999.
4. Packard Humanities Institute, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2015, Part VIII Line 1
5. Board of Trustees. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/about/governance/trustee-list
6. “Individual Contributions: Arianna Packard.” FEC.gov. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=arianna packard.
7. Barr, Andy. “Packard: Fiorina Almost Destroyed HP.” Politico. March 8, 2010. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2010/03/packard-fiorina-almost-destroyed-hp-034086
8. Mehta, Seema. “Packard Heir Travels to GOP Convention to Raise Money for Carly Fiorina Foe.” Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2010. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/03/packard-heir-travels-to-gop-convention-to-raise-money-for-fiorina-foe.html.
9. Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey. “Carly Fiorina as a Boss: The Disappointing Truth.” Fortune. August 15, 2015. Accessed June 18, 2019. http://fortune.com/2015/08/14/carly-fiorina-president-2/
10. Birkner, Gabrielle. “Off the Grid.” The Real Deal-New York Real Estate News. December 1, 2012. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/off-the-grid/