HP CEO Mark Hurd rewarded with a $40m severance after being forced to resign

[IndyColtsFan]

It should be simple: if you are charged with impropriety and get fired, you don't get any severance. if you're charged and voluntarily resign, you should get no more than a few million in severance.

I agree and my guess (or at least I would hope) is that he had a clause that invalidates the severance package should he violate their code of ethics, but HP knew it would result in a prolonged legal battle and just wanted to get rid of him the easiest way.

 

[MotF Bane]

I must have hit a nerve, eh Craig? If anyone here plays identity politics, it would be you. Nearly every post from you seems to be an us ("progressives") against them (Republicans and "corporatist" Democrats).

This. Completely this.

 

[yllus]

You have a 'centrist bias' leading you to distort and exaggerate to justify your position.

lol, classic.

 

[MotF Bane]

lol, classic.

Really, what on earth is a "centrist bias".

 

[brencat]

I agree and my guess (or at least I would hope) is that he had a clause that invalidates the severance package should he violate their code of ethics, but HP knew it would result in a prolonged legal battle and just wanted to get rid of him the easiest way.

I'm normally a free market guy...a company is free to pay its people whatever at their own peril if they make a sh*tty product. But paying a guy severance after committing a fireable offense just to avoid the public scrutiny of a trial that would likely hurt shareholder value is patently unfair. You and I would be canned with prejudice, as others here have indicated. The CEO's employment contract + the desire of the company to minimize its public relations problem trump fairness and concepts of justice in most peoples eyes.

 

[Phokus]

When i worked for IBM a few years back, my CEO, Sam Palmisano, was (and i think still is) the chairman of the board for IBM, was on the board of Exxon, and there was an ex-Exxon executive sitting on IBM's board.

Interlocking directorates FTL.

True believers in capitalism are retarded,btw

 

[Phokus]

It effects you if you work for a private employer and your not in upper management then your salary growth is limited to 3% per year while the CEO's compensation is 1000x times yours. Your buying power decreases over time if you are just an average worker bee.

Someone here (or ATOT) mentioned that HP employees had a cost of living raise freeze for the last few years.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm normally a free market guy...a company is free to pay its people whatever at their own peril if they make a sh*tty product. But paying a guy severance after committing a fireable offense just to avoid the public scrutiny of a trial that would likely hurt shareholder value is patently unfair. You and I would be canned with prejudice, as others here have indicated. The CEO's employment contract + the desire of the company to minimize its public relations problem trump fairness and concepts of justice in most peoples eyes.

Yeah, and in my opinion, as the face of the company and as someone who rakes in the most compensation, the CEO should be held to far higher standards than normal employees. Obviously this isn't the case these days.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Originally Posted by Craig234
You have a 'centrist bias' leading you to distort and exaggerate to justify your position.

lol, classic.

Craig's remark might be sig-worthy.

 

[Phokus]

At least this guy actually helped improve HP. The place that laid me off six or seven years ago hired a new CEO who immediately moved headquarters from a building the company owned outright in Clearwater to one they rented in Boston. He also hired some jackass CIO who spent millions on an Oracle project that was doomed from the start but funded anyway. Less than two years later the CEO, CIO, and the rest of the cronies he hired were given their walking papers along with a severance package of a full year of pay. The rest of the people laid off got 1 week of pay per year worked CAPPED AT 8 WEEKS. Yeah, that's totally fair.

The free market worked. The company picked the wrong CEO and it failed. What happens when this occurs with government? They raise taxes and continue wasting money.

Is the free market perfect? No its not perfect and its sad that you lost your job. But a company made a bad decision and got punished for it. Thats how it should work.

I just want to point out the post here and HACP's reply: conservatives are lower than dog shit. A CEO getting 1 year's severance is going to be a lot of money, typically. While low level employees getting a capped severance of 8 weeks isn't much.

 

[Phokus]

The funny thing is, the shareholders of HP stock aren't going to do jack shit about this because the majority of shareholders are institutional investors who probably provide other financial services to HP and aren't inclined to rock the boat.

I'm literally laughing at you morons who defend this as 'capitalism working'

 

[her209]

Why hasn't the SEC gotten involved?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Someone here (or ATOT) mentioned that HP employees had a cost of living raise freeze for the last few years.

That was me, based on some friends and acquaintances who work there and told me they haven't seen raises in a number of years despite glowing reviews and said that the freeze was official policy.

 

[Phokus]

The funny thing is, the shareholders of HP stock aren't going to do jack shit about this because the majority of shareholders are institutional investors who probably provide other financial services to HP and aren't inclined to rock the boat.

I'm literally laughing at you morons who defend this as 'capitalism working'

Also, i want to point out the 'i'm a free market guy, but...' type comments. How many times do you have to get punched in the face before you realize your ideology doesn't work. I mean, i'm glad that some of you are waking up to the fact that parts of the system are broken, but seriously, you're going to be saying, 'i'm a free market guy, but this makes me mad' a lot because these things are going to keep happening.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Interlocking directorates FTL.

That's just it, many on the far right here keep talking about how "hard work" will get you to the top in these companies. How is that, exactly? I've seen ridiculously hard workers (including myself at one time) who didn't play the political games and as a result, were stuck. The whole CEO/board of directors scenario is nothing more than a rubber-stamp task force to pay off your buddies, since it seems that there is only one or two degrees of separation between most CEOs.

In the meantime, wage freezes, outsourcing, and other decisions by these CEOs are shrinking the middle class and killing our country.

 

[Phokus]

That's just it, many on the far right here keep talking about how "hard work" will get you to the top in these companies. How is that, exactly? I've seen ridiculously hard workers (including myself at one time) who didn't play the political games and as a result, were stuck. The whole CEO/board of directors scenario is nothing more than a rubber-stamp task force to pay off your buddies, since it seems that there is only one or two degrees of separation between most CEOs.

In the meantime, wage freezes, outsourcing, and other decisions by these CEOs are shrinking the middle class and killing our country.

I agree with everything except the part of the 'far-right'. Cheerleading this broken system happens from the farthest right to the moderate left. Also, the moderate/left leaning rockefeller republican who might be speaking out against these abuses decades ago is pretty much all but dead. When you say 'far right', you are pretty much saying 'the entire republican party and a good number of democrats'.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I agree with everything except the part of the 'far-right'. Cheerleading this broken system happens from the farthest right to the moderate left. Also, the moderate/left leaning rockefeller republican who might be speaking out against these abuses decades ago is pretty much all but dead. When you say 'far right', you are pretty much saying 'the entire republican party and a good number of democrats'.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

 

[brencat]

Also, i want to point out the 'i'm a free market guy, but...' type comments. How many times do you have to get punched in the face before you realize your ideology doesn't work. I mean, i'm glad that some of you are waking up to the fact that parts of the system are broken, but seriously, you're going to be saying, 'i'm a free market guy, but this makes me mad' a lot because these things are going to keep happening.

Since you've chosen my quote, I'll answer that I like the "idea" of the free market and good old fashion American competition. Companies that make sh*tty products eventually hang themselves and get wiped out. Those that adapt and take care of customers and price goods correctly thrive. I totally get what Hacp is saying in this thread -- makes total sense to me in black and white terms. What's changed however over the past 3 decades is a loss of ethics, morals, and decency in society leading to the me-me-me winner take all mentality of corporate chiefs and even in our government as seen by the actions of our politicians.

Sadly, I'm afraid this behavior isn't going to change until we are all willing to be decent human beings willing to take care of each other and share again. But I don't want the govt telling me I need to share (via massively higher taxes and wealth redistribution). I prefer it come from enlightened individuals. For example...the recent success Buffet and Gates have had pushing the uber wealthy to earmark most of their wealth to charity and charitable trusts. The next push should be to lower corporate CEO pay. I'm sure Hurd would gladly do that job for $3-$5 mil total comp provided the bids away aren't also $30 million.

Yeah I know...wishful thinking.

 

[Thump553]

The sad thing was if he some local branch manager for HP and pulled this sort of stunt (a) he would have been fired, not offered the opportunity to resign and (b) he would have left with a couple weeks pay for accrued but unused vacation pay and the like.

Golden parachutes are not for those whose actions directly benefit themselves and hurt the company.

 

[palehorse]

hmmm, it sounds like working hard and becoming a CEO would be good for my bottom line... whodathunkit!??!

 

[Phokus]

hmmm, it sounds like working hard and becoming a CEO would be good for my bottom line... whodathunkit!??!

You forgot stealing from the company.

Boy howdy, conservatives sure are dumb as hell

 

[Throckmorton]

Then buy another brand of printer.

This is a really good point. All printer brands are exactly the same with their price gouging, and the free market hasn't solved that.

"Buy another printer" is exactly the same as "work at another company".

 

[nobodyknows]

hmmm, it sounds like working hard and becoming a CEO would be good for my bottom line... whodathunkit!??!

So the incentive to become a CEO is so you can cheat the company, it's employees and it's shareholdes? Your logic is simply immpeccable!!

 

[nobodyknows]

Really, what on earth is a "centrist bias".

Somebody who tries to look at things from both sides I suppose? Like that's a bad thing??

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Somebody who tries to look at things from both sides I suppose? Like that's a bad thing??

For Craig, it is, since the "progressive" viewpoint is evidently the only one that should be considered.