Oracle gets Mark Hurd within the boardroom and into a court system with Hp

Mark V. Hurd, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, resigned amid controversy over sexual harassment allegations concerning a previous consultant, Jodie Fisher. Not long after, he was approached by Oracle to take an executive position with that business, a competitor of Hp. It definitely won’t be as easy as just showing up as the newest co-president for Hurd. 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 known rainmaker in the tech world.

Not the clearest split between Hurd and Hewlett Packard

On Monday, Mark Hurd was announced as the newest addition to Oracle Corp., as outlined by Reuters. He will join the board of directors. He will take over as co-president for Charlie Phillips, who’s outgoing. Oracle is a heavyweight in the software and tech world. More software is only sold by Microsoft and IBM. After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Hurd can be in direct competition with his previous employer, Hewlett Packard, which just lately had a high profile bidding war with Dell for 3COM. Jodie Fisher used to be a consultant for Hewlett Packard, and her allegations of sexual harassment towards Hurd led to his resigning from HP.

Hewlett Packard suing Oracle foreseen by confidentiality contracts

Oracle made a bold move by acquiring Sun Microsystems. It made the business a competitor of Hewlett Packard. HP filed a suit, according to the NY Times, because Hurd has inside knowledge of Hewlett Packard and could not be legally hired, as it would violate confidentiality contracts he signed as part of his employment. Hewlett Packard benefited greatly when he was employed there. He and Hewlett Packard became significant heavies in the tech industry during his time there. Hewlett Packard became far more efficient under Hurd’s stewardship, and became a success story within the past five years. Oracle CEO, Lawrence Ellison, compared allowing Hurd to leave to when Apple fired Steve Jobs.

Hp could have a point

Hp inside details is certainly known to Hurd, as he was an executive. 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 legal action will go really far. That said, it could be worth it in the end, as Hurd has a reputation for making an awful lot of money.

Additional reading

Reuters

reuters.com/article/idUSN0724548420100907

NY Times

nytimes.com/2010/09/08/technology/08hewlett.html?src=busln