Carly Fiorina 2016: 5 Highlights From Pre-Politics Life of Potential GOP Presidential Hopeful

During a recent Iowa Freedom Summit, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina had pointed remarks for the possible 2016 presidential hopeful with whom she's most likely to be compared — Hillary Clinton. Fiorina regarded the former secretary of state's career lightly, saying, “Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe,” she told the crowd. “But unlike her, I have actually accomplished something. Mrs. Clinton, flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.”

Here are seven facts about Fiorina's pre-politics life that show she has the credibility to back up her statements:

1. In 1976, Fiorina attended law school at the University of California in Los Angeles, but then decided that a career in law was not for her and dropped out after one semester, disappointing her father, according to Biography.com. Several jobs later, she signed onto AT&T as a sales rep, and her corporate business career was launched. 

Urgent: Do You Support Carly Fiorina for the GOP Nomination? Vote Here Now

2. In 1980, Fiorina received an MBA in marketing from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 1989, she received a Master of Science in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management under the Sloan Fellows program. 

3. In moving up through AT&T, Fiorina became charged with leading one of the company’s spin-offs, Lucent Technologies. She led that company in one of the United State’s most successful initial public offerings, Biography.com said.

4. In 1998, Fortune magazine named her "Most Powerful Woman In Business," she became America's first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company in 2003, and in 2004, Forbes listed her No. 10 of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women."

5. From 1999 to 2005 she served as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, where she was forced to resign in 2005 after a controversial merger she brokered with Compaq. She has served as a board member for several corporations, including CyberTrust, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., Revolution Health Group, 360Good, Cisco Systems, Merck, and Kellogg Company.

Vote Now: Which Potential GOP Candidate Would You Support in 2016?

Related Stories:

• Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker Clear Favorites at Iowa Summit
• Carly Fiorina to Hillary Clinton: I've “Accomplished Something”