Mark Hurd To Dump $30 Million In HP Stock

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Former HP CEO Mark Hurd’s departure from the company was not really pretty, despite the hefty severance package he was given (with some outlets reporting he was given as much as $40 million in stock options). Now, Hurd has informed the SEC that he plans to dump some 700k-odd shares of HP stock that he acquired as HP CEO, netting Hurd a $30 million profit.

As any casual CNBC watcher will know – officers in publicly traded companies are required to notify the SEC when they plan to sell any shares of their own company. It’s to tip off investors that if insiders are dumping a lot of stock – something may be up. The $30 million Hurd sale was tipped off by Washington Service, a company that tracks insider transactions in the stock market.

The 775,000 shares that Hurd is selling are what the HP board gave him as apart of his severance package. So, it’s not like Hurd is shedding HP stock because of some insider knowledge that it’s about to declare bankruptcy or something. The 775k stock options that he was given were due to expire on September 7th.

Remember that Hurd and the HP board are both being sued by a group representing HP shareholders in connection to the Hurd dismissal. The plaintiffs are alleging that the Board should of notified the shareholders to the (then secret) investigation by HP’s legal department into alleged sexual harassment by Hurd. They also claim that Hurd’s severance package was too high.

Do you think Mark Hurd was paid too much? Do you think it was wrong to be fired for expense report fraud? Sound off in the comments section.