HP Senior Vice President and Palm Global Business Unit General Manager Jon Rubinstein, formerly CEO of the independent Palm, Inc. (let’s see all that on a business card) sat down with the Wall Street Journal’s Kara Swisher for a chat about Palm at the Dive Into Mobile conference in San Francisco. The discussion was wide-ranging, touching on where Palm went wrong, where Palm is going, and how things work with the new HP overlords.

The discussion started with Swisher touching back on something that struck us as surprising from the last time she and Rubinstein were on stage: the then Palm CEO had not even touched an iPhone. Apparently that has since changed, with Rubinstein noting that many Palm employees use iPhones, and the iPhone is reviewed by their competitive analysis groups. But yes, he has now touched and used an iPhone. It’s not something that ever became his primary device, as he doesn’t “want to be tainted by another experience. I want to come at this with a fresh perspective and I think what we’re seeing now in this industry is that everyone is copying the iPhone.”

But would having used an iPhone saved Palm? We doubt it. In fact, Rubinstein admitted that though webOS and the Pre were great products, “market moved too fast and when we looked forward we saw a very clear way to where we could get the company to profitability, but we didn’t see a way to get it to scale.”

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There are times that we look at Oracle and head honcho Larry Ellison and just shake our heads. Oracle has been involved in a corporate espionage case against SAP for some time now, and had not until recently pursued questioning Léo Apotheker, then SAP CEO, now HP CEO. In fact, it wasn’t until Apotheker took over as HP’s chief that Oracle went after him, and this is following a nasty spat over Oracle’s hiring of Mark Hurd, Apotheker’s forced-out-of-office predecessor at HP.

So, looking to create more public relations mischief, Oracle started going after Apotheker soon after his announcement to take the HP throne, much to the dismay of both HP and SAP. The story took a turn towards the absurd early this week with a report from Reuters that Oracle had hired private investigators to track down Apotheker, who had apparently gone missing/underground since taking the HP helm. Except that he didn’t – Apotheker was spotted in Japan on late last week, where he gave an interview to the Nikkei Business Daily.

This appearance jives pretty well with Apotheker’s statement that he would begin his tenure at HP by traveling on a “listening tour” to learn more about the company he’s now heading. In fact, just this week Apotheker was reported to have popped up at HP facilities in Texas and Massachusetts. This runs counter to Oracle’s claim that he’s running from a subpoena to testify in the Oakland, California, court where their lawsuit against SAP is being tried (overseas Apotheker would be beyond the reach of the subpoena, but within the US he can be compelled to appear). Additionally, Apotheker sightings have been reported in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Oracle is seeking some $4 billion in damages from SAP. For it’s part, SAP has admitted some liability in the claim, but that it was Texas-based subsidiary TomorrowNow that was responsible for the theft of Oracle’s IP – and that was before SAP bought the company (though the SAP board was apparently aware of it). We don’t want to jump to any conclusions here, but judging by Ellison’s pattern of behavior since the forced resignation of Hurd, we’d hazard a guess that he’s more out to embarrass HP and Apotheker than prove Apotheker’s complicity in the suit.

Source: Reuters (1, 2), MarketWatch

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HP has announced their new president and CEO: Léo Apotheker. Apotheker comes to HP after serving as the CEO for SAP, the German company that specializes in enterprise-class applications and software.

Apotheker takes over on November 1st. He’s a surprise pick to us – we guess we’ll see if this man with 20 years of enterprise-class experience can continue HP’s success in the consumer space. If nothing else, this bring the Mark Hurd saga to a close.

Full press release after the break.

Source: Business Wire

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It seems that HP and Oracle have kissed and made up, with HP now okay with former CEO Mark Hurd taking a position as Co-President at Oracle. While neither party is releasing the details of the settlement, HP said in a statement that “Mr. Hurd will adhere to his obligations to protect HP’s confidential information while delivering the best products and solutions to their more than 140,000 shared customers.” Considering that HP and Oracle have been working together for more than 25 years, it’s little surprise that cooler heads prevails in the boardrooms. And Larry Ellison said there was no way we could still get along.

UPDATE: The Associate Press notes that the agreement between Hurd and HP was also contingent upon HP getting their money back. Hurd received approximately $30 million in severance pay and options, which he will be returning to HP. Hurd took advantage of the newfound goodwill by taking the stage at Oracle’s annual conference to show off a new server the company was debuting.

Source: Business Wire, MSNBC; Via: Engadget

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Oracle’s CEO may have thought he was doing his pal Mark Hurd a solid by hiring him on as Co-President after HP dumped him, but HP isn’t taking too kindly to it. They’ve filed a civil complaint against Hurd, arguing that there’s no way that the ex-CEO could work for Oracle without disclosing the trade secrets he has picked up at HP. The two companies are direct competitors, after all, and HP also notes that they weren’t exactly stingy with his severance package:

Despite being paid millions of dollars in cash, stock and stock options in exchange for Hurd’s agreements to protect HP’s trade secrets and confidential information during his employment and following his departure from his positions at HP as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, HP is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Hurd has put HP’s most valuable trade secrets and confidential information in peril. Hurd accepted positions with Oracle Corporation (“Oracle”), a competitor of HP, yesterday as its President and as a member of its Board of Directors. In his new positions, Hurd will be in a situation in which he cannot perform his duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP’s trade secrets and confidential information to others.

Who’s got popcorn?

Source: HP Data Central

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It seems that Oracle CEO and largest shareholder Larry Ellison is putting his money where is mouth is. After blasting HP for releasing CEO Mark Hurd (equating it to Apple’s firing of Steve Jobs back in 1985, Ellison has brought Hurd onboard to help helm his technology empire. Hurd and Ellison have long been personal friends, and Ellison has never been timid in expressing his support for Hurd. In fact, the two worked together often as executives, with HP and Oracle capitalizing on several corporate partnerships.

Hurd will be replacing retiring Oracle co-president and board member Charles Phillips, Jr. As co-president, Hurd will be slotting alongside current Oracle executive Safra Catz, and will report to Ellison. On his decision to bring Hurd into Oracle’s executive team, Ellison was not short on praise: “Mark did a brilliant job at H.P., and I expect he’ll do even better at Oracle. There is no executive in the I.T. world with more relevant experience than Mark.”

Source: New York Times

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You’ve undoubtedly been keeping up with the saga that’s resulted from the forced resignation of HP’s CEO Mark Hurd by the company’s board, so you know that the world’s largest tech company by revenue is actively seeking to fill the top seat.  To that end, the company has hired executive search firm Spencer Stuart to lead its efforts in considering both internal and external candidates (Jon Rubinstein, anyone?) for the top job, joining the already established search committee that claims board members Marc Andreessen, Laurence Babbio Jr and Joel Hyatt as members.  

Analysts venture that possible candidates include former PalmOne CEO and current HP Personal Systems Chief Todd Bradly (a name that should be familiar  to PreCentral readers), IBM’s Steve Mills and Motorola’s Greg Brown.  Those same analysts predict that a new chief may already be on board by the time HP holds an analyst meeting in September, which could make this search uncharacteristically short.

The above my have (understandably) caused your eyes to glaze over, but there is relevance to those interested in all things Palm:  whoever steps into the role of CEO has a tremendous amount of  influence in the strategic direction of the company, and it would behoove of them to hire someone who understands the importance of the smartphone market.

Source: HP

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Ah, lawsuits, so much fun. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a lawsuit over shareholder losses, and we expect it wont be the last time we see such a lawsuit quickly settled. The day after the firing resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd, the company’s stock (HPQ) dropped more than 10%. Hurd, while not necessarily popular within HP, was popular with shareholders. For comparison, when Carly Fiorina was forced out of the Chief Executive position, HP stock rallied. In total, the massive drop erased some $9 billion in shareholder wealth. Shares have continued to drop since, bringing HPQ down to levels not seen since July 2009.

For those with large investments in HP, the drop was a kick in the tender nether regions. One of those large investors is Brockton Contributory Retirement System (BCRS), a $266 million pension fund for Massachusetts public employees. BCRS was so enraged by the stock price drop that the decided to sue HP’s board, Hurd, and acting CEO Cathie Lesjak. The defendants are accused of gross mismanagement of HP, and BRCS alleges that HP’s board could have substantially limited Hurd’s multi-million dollar severance package.

BRCS’s demands are unlikely to be fulfilled. The pension fund wants for HP to restrict Hurd’s severance package (a deal likely negotiated as part of his hiring contract, and again for his firing resignation) and for the defendants to pay back HP for money lost due to the scandal (HP itself has lost little money in the grand scheme – stock value has little effect on the company’s profits). Additionally, the suit demands that HP change its corporate rules to prevent board members from also serving as HP executives (Hurd was both CEO and Chairman).

So you might be asking why Lesjak was named in the suit. Both she and Hurd have also been accused by BRCS of insider trading. Hurd sold some $11 million of HP shares in November and May, while Lesjak sold 5,785 shares of HPQ (around $266,000) on July 30, a few days before Hurd’s departure was announced and she stepped into the interim CEO position.

While we’re not legal scholars my any estimation (okay, Jonathan Ezor actually is), our expectation is to see this settled out-of-court for a few million bucks. For BRCS and their lawyers, it’ll be a good day, while for HP it’ll be a drop in their $14 billion cash-on-hand bucket.

Source: PCMag.com

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Welcome to Point Counter Point, wherein Derek vents his spleen like the dour misanthrope we’ve all come to know and love, Dieter consoles us all with rainbows and unicorns, and the truth lies – as it always does – somewhere in the middle.

Today’s topic: What to make of all the pie-in-the-sky future talk we are hearing from HP instead of actual product announcements.

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Sometimes companies like HP use their money to make problems just go away. Such is the case with Mark Hurd and the sexual harassment allegation that ended his career as HP’s CEO. In order to make Hurd’s exit as smooth as possible, the HP board lined the way with $12.2 million in cash as well as the choice to cash in more than 330,000 shares of HPQ stock (approximately $16 million, prior to the 10% plunge his exit precipitated) plus an extended option to purchase an additional 775,000 shares up until September 7.

The whole deal releases HP of any liability, but has to sting quite a bit for Hurd. Not only does he lose a job he clearly wanted to keep, but he’s also losing out on a three-year $100 million contract that was reportedly in negotiation to keep him on as CEO.

HP CFO Cathie Lesjak is serving as interim-CEO while the search for a new CEO and chairman is under way. Lesjak, a 24-year veteran of HP, has taken herself out of the running, though that hasn’t stopped her name from being bandied around. More serious in-the-running candidates include HP EVP of Personal Systems Todd Bradley; Ann Livermore, HP’s EVP of Technology Solutions Group (Enterprise); and Bob Wayman, retired HP CFO and interim CEO after Carly Fiorina was forced out. Bradley, as you may recall, was the CEO of PalmOne (the hardware division of a divided Palm, Inc) from 2001 to 2005, when he was recruited to HP by Hurd. Ranked by Fortune as one of tech’s smartest executives, Bradley is believed to have been instrumental in arranging HP’s $1.2 billion takeover of Palm.

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