HP Board Sued Over Hurd Departure

Stoobalou writes "A shareholding company launched a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard's board of directors earlier this week, claiming they bungled their fiduciary duties over the departure of CEO Mark Hurd. 'The HP board put shareholders' finances at risk by not telling them about the sexual harassment inquiry, and then later rewarded Hurd with an estimated $40 million severance package, the suit said. The board also failed to adequately police insider trading by HP executives, allowing Hurd and chief financial officer Cathie Lesjak to sell off HP stock in the midst of the inquiry, according to the suit, which was filed in California Superior Court.'" HP is also facing increased scrutiny from the unrelated bribery probe that began earlier this year when their Moscow offices were raided.

Re:this is backdoor regulation

[Third Position]

Yes, but being a major shareholder is a legitimate position from which to have a say in how a company conducts itself. Maybe the problem is that governments should be prohibited from owning interests in public and private corporations.

Re:this is backdoor regulation

[localman57]

Interesting thought. What, then, should the government do with various savings accounts such as pensions? (Think in terms of smaller municipal or state retirement management agencies, not Federal, so we don't end up in an argument about the federal reserve, or national debt). In order to earn a return, the money must be "doing" something. Should we literally stack up $100 bills and store them in a warehouse? Or as an alternative, perhaps treasury bonds would be the other non-corporate option?

Re:HOW much of a golden parachute?

[yttrstein]

What it causes, directly, is insider trading. Proponents of heavy stock option compensation as opposed to heavy cash compensation are criminals, and should be treated as such.