Mark Hurd is pushed out as CEO of HP. His abrupt fall from high dropped HP stock 10% in a single day: the company lost $10 billion in value overnight.
Mr. Hurd (who came in to fix HP after Carly Fiorina's Compaq acquisition) fell from grace by his own hand. Before he left, Hurd personally paid out to settle a sexual harassment accusation at the heart of his departure.
The complainant is a 50-year old actress who once appeared in "steamy" films like Easy Rider– The Ride Back, Blood Dolls, The Outsider, Sheer Passion and the unrated Body of Influence 2. (And a reality show called Age of Love.)
Somewhere Carly Fiorina must be clapping with glee at Hurd’s demise. This is the third straight CEO in a 5-year row pushed or fired by HP’s Board. Hurd reportedly received $24.2 million in pay in 2009 (and $42.4 million in 2008) and lost a 3-year $100 million contract deal when he was accused of fiddling expense reports involving this woman (Hurd denies this). Being caught in an office imbroglio is a good enough reason for the HP Board.
Hey, don’t feel bad for him...Hurd gets $28 million cash & stock. OK, so now he might have to wait for that stock to go back up...but probably not too long as Hurd has analysts think Hurd has left HP with adequate direction nad management.
And lots of IT companies without qualms will make the competent Hurd a job offer...just watch and see. Especially since many CEOs (think Larry Ellison) land on the side that Hurd should have never have been fired for something as silly as ethical reasons. Sorry, Larry...we actually like HP for this ingrained sense of company ethics.
(Yes, the photo of HURD+HER is our own composite, with a real photo of HER inserted.)