Despite Hurd's exit, customers stick with HP

by Bipin Shah Self Employed Bangalore: As reactions remained mixed on the exit of Mark Hurd, the former CEO, HP customers decided to stand by the company while shareholders fled the stock. HP's shares fell 8 percent on Monday to close at $42.60 on the New York Stock Exchange as investors digested the news of Hurd's departure, reports Cari Tuna And Yukari Iwatani Kane from The Wall Street Journal. The decline erased $8.7 billion in market value.

There were mixed views of opinions about the exit package that Hurd received, estimated to be worth more than $35 million, including $12.2 million in cash. Some said the amount doesn't seem unduly generous, given payouts to departing executives at other companies and Hurd's contributions to HP while some others questioned why Hurd is getting paid at all, given the HP board's conclusions about his violation of company policies.

Oracle Chief Executive, Larry Ellison criticized the HP board's actions in an email to the New York Times, in particular seizing on what he asserted was a split vote to publicize the sex harassment allegations that prompted an investigation of Hurd - which the company concluded were unfounded.

HP Chief Financial Officer and interim CEO, Cathie Lesjak said the company is "moving through the transition period as quickly as possible" and added that she and other executives had talked to many investors and customers about the situation.

Gerry McCartney, Chief Information Officer at Purdue University, said that Purdue, which spends around $6 million to $7 million annually on H-P products such as printers and computers, currently plans to keep buying from H-P.

Mike Binger, fund manager at Thrivent Asset Management in Minneapolis, which owns H-P shares, said anytime "a stock drops 7 percent to 8 percent, we're concerned." But he added that Mr. Hurd's resignation is a "one-off incident that doesn't reflect upon the company's fundamentals."

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