Mark Hurd recently resigned after five big years as CEO of Hewlett Packard. He left Hewlett Packard amid allegations through Jodie Fisher, a former consultant, of sexual harassment. Oracle took a chance on Hurd, not long after he left HP. Hurd is the brand new co-president of Oracle. However, it isn’t easy to jump from one huge tech business to an additional. 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. It is easy to understand why Oracle would though. Hurd is a known heavyweight in the tech industry.
Not the cleanest break between Hurd and Hewlett Packard
Mark Hurd was announced, as outlined by Reuters, as the newest addition to the executive team of Oracle Corp. Charlie Phillips resigned as co-president, and Hurd could be taking that spot along with a position on the board of directors. Oracle is a heavyweight in the software and tech world. More software is only sold by Microsoft and IBM. Hewlett Packard had a high profile bidding war for 3COM with Dell, and Oracle became a direct competitor at the start of the year, when Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. Jodie Fisher used to be a consultant for Hp, and her allegations of sexual harassment towards Hurd led to his resigning from HP.
Did Oracle divine Hp suing them?
Oracle became a direct competitor of HP after the acquisition of Sun Microsystems. HP filed a suit, as outlined by the New York Times, because Hurd has inside knowledge of Hp and could not be legally hired, as it would violate discretion contracts he signed as part of his employment. Hewlett Packard benefited greatly when he was employed there. He and Hp became severe heavies in the tech industry during his time there. Hurd was directly responsible for aggressive efficiency improvements for his previous employer. Even Oracle knows that. The CEO of Oracle, Lawrence Ellison, compared the departure of Hurd from HP to when Steve Jobs was originally fired by Apple.
This is not just sour grapes for Hewlett Packard
Hurd does have inside information about Hp. That kind of knowledge can come to seriously harm them, and he may not legally be able to disclose it. This is not unexpected. There is a reason why executives are often made to sign contracts which consist of non-compete and discretion clauses. There is no guarantee the lawsuit will go really far. That said, it might be worth it within the end, as Hurd has a reputation for making an awful lot of cash.
Further reading
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSN0724548420100907
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/08/technology/08hewlett.html?src=busln
