
HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns Over Sexual Harassment Investigation - talbina
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hp-ceo-mark-hurd-resigns-cfo-cathie-lesjak-appointed-interim-ceo-hp-announces-preliminary-results-and-raises-full-year-outlook-2010-08-06?reflink=MW_news_stmp
======
dcurtis
This is really sad. HP has been making a lot of really interesting strategic
decisions lately, some decisions that I think have been set up through
acquisitions and product development over the past few years. Mark Hurd seemed
to know what he was doing on a long term scale, which is something unusual in
a company like HP. That he was fired over something as unrelated to business
skill as sexual harassment is sad. Shame on him, of course, but I wonder if
his absence will end up hurting HP more in the long term than his personal
actions over the short term.

HP recently hired some top notch industrial designers, and their newest
computers are built far better than the older ones. The acquisition of WebOS
was strategic. HP is poised to take on Android and iOS if they can execute
well enough. From what I have seen, HP has been putting all the pieces into
place for positioning themselves as the Apple of the PC world, at least in
their high end market. They even embarrassed Microsoft by refusing to support
the Windows 7 Slate in a consumer device. That's a big risk I was surprised HP
took. It sends a message.

I was excited about HP’s future, but now I’m not so sure. HP just lost its
Steve Jobs.

\---

Someone else in this thread linked to this awesome NYT article about Hurd:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/technology/companies/26hp....](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/technology/companies/26hp.html)

~~~
anigbrowl
_That he was fired over something as unrelated to business skill as sexual
harassment is sad._

It turns out that it was more to do with inappropriate payments to a
contractor with whom he had a person relationship.
[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-chief-mark-
hurd-...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-chief-mark-hurd-resigns-
finance-chief-cathie-lesjak-named-interim-ceo.html) The headlines are rather
misleading in this respect...I'm not sure whether that tells us more about
journalists or the way HP announced his departure.

edit: more comprehensive report w/press release text:
[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_i...](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=69578&tsp=1)

But regardless of the specifics, your implication that a firm should employ no
other criteria than financial ones for employment decisions is odd to me.
Private affairs are one thing, but committing a crime or tort on the job is
considered unacceptable for most employees. How much incidental misbehavior do
you think is excusable by high productivity? Alternatively, how much lawsuit
liability should an employee be able to run up on their own account?

~~~
Charuru
Greed. If you're going to have a monetary sexual relationship, might as well
as man up and pay from your own pocket, not put it on the company's tab.

------
whyenot
_But as the years passed, as I dealt with hundreds of entrepreneurs, and with
Packard himself, I began to understand that the key to the greatness of Bill
Hewlett and David Packard was that they held no attachment to things, only
people. The garage was left behind, as would be, in time, the redwood
building. So too was the audio oscillator and thousands of other products--all
abandoned in the endless pursuit of something better. Only the people
remained, and they were cherished and respected, far more than by any
corporation in history._

\- Michael Malone <http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/19/1019malone.html>

Mark Hurd did not fit in this mold. Neither did Fiorina.

~~~
potatolicious
The curse of the publicly traded company, after the founders retire. There are
precious few companies that can survive this transition - as the principled,
long-term management style is swapped out for quick profits and lowest-common-
denominator management.

------
jakarta
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.

~~~
qq66
Maybe less than five minutes.

~~~
mortenjorck
Actually, I've wondered idly before what that time window might be between
witnessing a behavior in someone for whom you hold a lot of respect and
deciding that no, it's not an illusion, they are actually doing that, and that
your estimation of them will consequently have to go down.

~~~
qq66
Um, I think you missed the joke :-\

~~~
bl4k
Just FYI, I got it and found it funny. Highlight of the thread, IMO.

------
credo
He says _"I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the
standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused
at HP and which have guided me throughout my career"_

While his actions do seem inexcusable, it is good to see that he is admitting
error. Too often, people refuse to accept any personal errors and prefer to
portray themselves as innocent victims. It is good to see that Hurd didn't
choose that path.

 _[edit: note to downvoters and johnknee's question - HP's investigation
concluded that there were violations of HP's standards of business conduct and
Hurd himself has acknowledged his error. Hurd has also admitted that the
inaccurate expense reports were intended to conceal his personal relationship
with the female marketing contractor and that this "showed a profound lack of
judgment"

If you disagree and if you find no fault with Hurd, I suggest you take it up
with HP and with Hurd himself.]_

~~~
jonknee
> While his actions do seem inexcusable

What were his actions? I didn't see anything about what the accusation was.

~~~
anigbrowl
_Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Mark Hurd resigned as chief
executive officer after an investigation found he had a personal relationship
with a contractor who received pay from the company that wasn’t business-
related._

[http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-s-mark-
hurd-r...](http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-s-mark-hurd-resigns-
after-sexual-harassment-probe.html)

------
protomyth
"The investigation determined there was no violation of HP's sexual harassment
policy, but did find violations of HP's Standards of Business Conduct." - hum,
that is a curious line.

HP seems to have no luck with CEOs. I wonder if they will use this situation
to find someone more familiar with the mobile space.

~~~
hristov
They are in a tricky situation because a the alleged victim will certainly sue
the company if she (or he) has not done so already, so if the board admits
there was sexual harassment in an internal investigation that will be used
against the company.

------
bl4k
Google stop supporting a product that not many people used, and it jumps to a
thousand upvotes and remains on top for over a day, attracting hundreds of
comments.

The CEO of a top 5 IT firm resigns after admitting to inproprietaries and
sexual harrasment, dropping almost 10% of the stock price (around 10B of
market cap) and the story struggles to make the front page and doesn't attract
many comments.

This is really big news, and I am surprised that it isn't being covered more
and more in-depth. I think it is fair to say that a large portion of HN
readers, and the general tech/startup blogosphere, have no idea how the IT
world works, who this guy really was, what his job was etc. If this was Apple,
the story wouldn't die for weeks. Enterprise and hardware make up a huge part
of IT, it is just covered poorly.

(Edit: there was a lot of hype around wave, granted, I could probably find a
better example of less-significant events that attract a lot of attention)

------
narrator
This guy should move to Russia.

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/2470...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/2470310/Sexual-
harrassment-okay-as-it-ensures-humans-breed-Russian-judge-rules.html)

~~~
eru
Wow. That situation sounds pretty bad.

~~~
raquo
> According to a recent survey, 100 per cent of female professionals said they
> had been subjected to sexual harassment by their bosses

As much as I hate Russia^, this is total BS. I can speak of Moscow,
S.Petersburg, Perm, Ryazan. It could be anywhere between 0-60%, but 70-100%
simply does not match reality.

^ - I'm allowed to, I live here.

------
krupan
He's getting an 8-figure severance package:

<http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100806-715953.html>

------
natch
Judging from how HP apparently tries to create products that rip off customers
(like minuscule ink refills that cost $14 a pop and run out almost
immediately), my cynical belief is that "lack of character" is necessary, if
not sufficient, for promotion at HP. But in this case, they had nowhere to
promote him to.

------
mortenjorck
On the investor call they said they can't talk about candidates right now, but
how about subsumed Palm CEO and Apple alum Jon Rubinstein? I don't know how he
would fare helming such a vastly larger ship, but the guy knows a thing or two
about a focused product strategy and the importance of good UX.

------
rojer
There is no wonder in Mark Hurd's ouster. He was a corporate butcher. In the
name of cost cutting he has made the life of many people miserable. Rather I
would say that the curse of thousands of people who got suffered because of
his dictatorial policies punished him by sacking him. He would have got
millions of dollars as severance payment. But history remains that “Mark Hurd
has been fired”. Instead of finding new avenues and channels to accommodate
the efficient employees, he has simply turned out to be a butcher of sending
the people to burial ground.

------
barkingcat
Idea from far left: this sets up Jon Rubinstein as a potential incoming CEO.
He's got the technical chops, and was acquired recently with Palm for a
significant amount of money. While I don't have information to confirm
otherwise, Rubinstein seems to have the work ethics espoused by Hewlett and
Packard. Who knows, maybe HP at the hands of Rubinstein would really rise to
become a true competitor to Apple.

------
jdavid
i wonder how a new CEO will effect the palm acquisition.

~~~
hga
On general principles expect it to die in one way or another, unless it's got
a major high level champion left in the company (note that the departure of
Hurd might be followed by some people who will now be lacking political
cover).

I'm not saying this will happen, it's just that this is an all too common
pattern. _Nothing_ in big companies that work like HP gets anywhere without
champions ... so see if there are any left.

------
jdavid
hey, HP, Jay Allard just left Microsoft! He has built his life on the social
aspects of the internet, and knows games. I bet he could make a really
successful tablet and phone product.

~~~
izendejas
Social aspects of the internet and games are not part of HP's strategy. HP's
in the business of selling infrastructure that makes the internet and games
possible.

------
jayliew
I'm just curious, is anyone looking at the board for a pattern? Shouldn't they
have caught on this behavior sooner and taken action to rectify it before this
big pile of public mess?

------
izendejas
Hurd is a brilliant man and above all, the man could execute. He leaves behind
some very talented executives. Let's hope they stick around. This is a
wonderful opportunity for someone new to come aboard and give the company a
more solid vision because it was unclear what HP's vision was under Hurd. It's
tough when you have 300K+ employees.

I think this calls for Vyomesh Joshi to step up. Now that's a guy that works
wonders. He's keeping the printing business alive (against all odds) with some
serious leadership and innovation.

------
talbina
I used to be obsessed with this 2009 NYTimes profile about him and read it
several times:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/technology/companies/26hp....](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/technology/companies/26hp.html)

Not anymore.

~~~
todayiamme
As someone who has faced different forms of abuse, including sexual abuse. I
would ask people not to judge anyone on the basis of sparse information or
their mistakes.

We don't even know what happened over here, and I think that nobody is in a
position to comment on/judge either party involved. It's just too complicated.

On the other hand, the amazing thing is that HP still retains its core values
and asked Mr. Hurd to resign even when they had the option of simply burying
it. Even though Bill and Dave are long gone the spirit of their institution
still survives. Simply Amazing.

[edit: I am pretty sure that a lot of people will find this comment to be
offensive, but think about it. Does judging a situation and the people
involved as an outsider help anyone? In fact, it just makes it worse.

On a more personal note, I don't want to be a victim of the cards I've been
dealt. I would rather learn how to play the hand. I've learnt to see the
silver lining, learn and just move on. It makes life easier to deal with. ]

~~~
illumin8
I wouldn't be so quick to claim HP has any real values. Do you remember this?
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_spying_scandal>

The simple fact of the matter is that HP makes some decent servers and low
cost storage that we buy a lot of. Unfortunately in recent years Mark Hurd has
cut their support staff so thin, and outsourced most of it to Costa Rica, so
that now when you need support on a server you're more likely to get someone
speaking english as a second language that knows about enough to order a part
# for you and have it shipped so you can replace it yourself.

I guess for these "cost-cutting measures" Mark Hurd should be praised, or at
least he has been praised in this business environment. I don't think he has
particularly done anything brilliant other than accelerate the globalization
and outsourcing of the tech industry as a whole.

------
bl4k
So Hurd is finally finished?

hoho

