It has been a bittersweet year for Mark Hurd, the former HP CEO who is now at the helm at rival Oracle. First, he faced sexual harassment allegations from an employee, Jodie Fisher. While these were dismissed, he faced scrutiny of his expense account, which eventually forced his ouster. He joined rival Oracle, and his $5 million severance package from HP was reduced. Then things got quiet. Now Hurd is facing allegations that he told Fisher about HP’s plans to acquire EDS, two months before the company made an official announcement about the planned purchase.
Now the SEC is launching an informal investigation into the newest allegations. According to insiders, Fisher denies that she passed this information on, which could lead to insider trader charges. As things stand now, HP is cooperating with the investigation, while Hurd’s lawyer insists that he, “acted properly in all respects.” That is up to the SEC to decide, and so far they have declined to comment.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at the Wall Street Journal.
