After five glorious years at the helm of Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd had to resign as CEO after being accused of sexual harassment by Jodie Fisher, a former consultant. Not long after, he was approached by Oracle to take an executive position with that company, a competitor of Hewlett Packard. You can’t just switch from one giant tech company to another, like Hurd is intending to. 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 understandable why Oracle would though. Hurd is a known heavyweight in the tech industry.
Hurd and Hewlett Packard cannot still be buddies
As outlined by Reuters, Oracle Corp. just announced a new hire. That would be Mark Hurd. Charlie Phillips resigned as co-president, and Hurd could be taking that spot along with a position on the board of directors. Only IBM and Microsoft sell more software than Oracle. After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Hurd could be in direct competition with his former employer, Hewlett Packard, which just lately had a high profile bidding war with Dell for 3COM. Jodie Fisher used to be a consultant for Hp, and her allegations of sexual harassment against Hurd led to his resigning from HP.
Did Oracle divine Hp suing them?
Hewlett Packard and Oracle became competitors after Sun Microsystems was bought out by Oracle. HP filed a suit, according to the New York Times, because Hurd has inside knowledge of Hp and could not be legally hired, as it would violate confidentiality contracts he signed as part of his employment. Hurd was known as a severe player in the tech field during his tenure at Hewlett Packard. 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 initially fired by Apple.
This is not just sour grapes for Hewlett Packard
Hurd, as a former CEO of Hewlett Packard, does have insider info that can damage Hp. That is the reason why executives often have to sign confidentiality and non-competing contracts. It is unknown how far this lawsuit will go, but it could possibly be worth it as Hurd has a track record of making lots of money.
Find more info on this subject
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSN0724548420100907
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/08/technology/08hewlett.html?src=busln
