There was a huge scandal as Jodie Fisher, a consultant, accused Hurd of sexual harassment which led to the then CEO of Hewlett Packard resigning his post. He was just lately hired by Oracle as an executive. Oracle is, as fate would have it, a direct competitor with Hp. Hurd accepted a job as co-president of Oracle, however the jump via one giant technology company to one more was not that simple. HP has just filed a lawsuit against Oracle, as Hurd signed confidentiality agreements during his employment, and as part of his severance package from HP. Hurd is a giant among men within the tech industry.
Hurd is really not getting asked to the Hewlett Packard prom
According to Reuters, Oracle Corp. just announced a new hire. That would be Mark Hurd. Charlie Phillips resigned as co-president, and Hurd can be taking that spot along with a position on the board of directors. Oracle is one of the largest computer technology corporations within the world, behind only Microsoft and IBM in sales of software. Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems earlier this year, placing the business in direct competition with Hp. Hp had a high profile bidding war with Dell for 3COM. Hurd resigned in August. He quit after allegations of sexual harassment were brought by Jodie Fisher, who used to be a consultant for Hewlett Packard.
Did Oracle divine Hewlett Packard suing them?
Oracle made a bold move by acquiring Sun Microsystems. It made the company a competitor of Hp. HP filed a suit, as outlined by the NY Times, because Hurd has inside knowledge of Hewlett Packard and could not be legally hired, as it would violate confidentiality agreements he signed as part of his employment. Hewlett Packard benefited greatly while he was employed there. He and Hewlett Packard became significant heavies in the tech industry during his time there. Hp became far more efficient under Hurd’s stewardship, and became a success story within the past five years. Hewlett Packard allowing Hurd to leave was compared to when Apple let Steve Jobs go by none other than Lawrence Ellison, the CEO of Oracle.
Competing interests
Hurd, as a previous CEO of Hp, does have insider info that can damage Hewlett Packard. This is not unexpected. There is a reason why executives are often made to sign contracts which consist of non-compete and discretion clauses. It is unknown how far this lawsuit will go, but it could possibly be worth it as Hurd has a track record of making a lot of money.
Additional reading
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSN0724548420100907
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/08/technology/08hewlett.html?src=busln
