Hewlett-Packard settled its lawsuit against is former CEO Mark Hurd and the settlement resulted in Hurd losing $13.6 million in the form of 330,177 forgone stock options that HP had given him in 2008. The filed the suit after its former CEO, who was fired in August following a sexual harassment case filed by marketing contractor Jodie Fisher, joined HP’s competitor Oracle only a month later in early September.
Oracle hired Hurd as President resulting in HP filing a suit to block Hurd’s move stating compromise of trade secrets as primary reason. According to a joint statement today from both companies, HP and Hurd have settled, and the statement said: HP and Oracle Corp. today reaffirmed their long-term strategic partnership and the resolution of litigation regarding Mark V. Hurd’s employment at Oracle.
While the terms of the settlement are confidential, Mr. Hurd will adhere to his obligations to protect HP’s confidential information while fulfilling his responsibilities at Oracle. The agreement also reaffirms HP and Oracle’s commitment to delivering the best products and solutions to their more than 140,000 shared customers.
Although all has not been rosy between the two rivals-cum-partners, HP affirms that everything between them is alright. From the time that Oracle has acquired Sun Microsystems, it has aspired to dominate the software and hardware markets while HP aims to do the same. However, Chief Financial Officer and interim chief Cathie Lesjak said that both the companies “have been important partners for more than 20 years” and will continue to work together.