Pender's Blog

Blog archive

Firing Hurd Round the World Continues To Haunt HP

Mark Hurd, you sly devil, you. Not only did you hire a kind-of, sort-of adult actress as a "marketing consultant" of some sort, you also -- allegedly -- went behind your board's back to settle her sexual harassment claim. HP's board wanted to probe (don't make a joke...don't make a joke) the claim itself, but you took care of it on the down low -- according to the Wall Street Journal, anyway.

This story just gets better all the time, especially now that it has led to a fantastic round of "respectful" (always respectful, of course) sniping in the press about why Hurd really got canned. The New York Times claims to have gotten to the bottom of things (oh, don't make a joke...), but SiliconBeat, which we think is part of the San Jose Mercury-News, has shot back with a respectful "columnist, please."

Who's right? We don't care. We just hope that know-it-all insiders will keep arguing over this stuff so that we'll have enough RCPU fodder to get through the month of August. (By the way, HP, call me.)

Posted on August 16, 2010


Featured

  • World Map Image

    Microsoft Taps Nebius in $17B AI Infrastructure Deal To Alleviate Cloud Strain

    Microsoft has signed a five-year, $17.4 billion agreement with Amsterdam-based Nebius Group to expand its AI computing capabilities through third-party GPU infrastructure.

  • Microsoft Brings Copilot AI Into Viva Engage

    Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Engage is now generally available, extending Copilot's AI-powered assistant capabilities deeper into the Viva platform.

  • MIT Finds Only 1 in 20 AI Investments Translate into ROI

    Despite pouring billions into generative AI technologies, 95 percent of businesses have yet to see any measurable return on investment.

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.