The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:30:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Governance Lessons from HP – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Governance Lessons from HP https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2010/09/25/governance-lessons-from-hp/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=governance-lessons-from-hp https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2010/09/25/governance-lessons-from-hp/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 14:04:37 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/?p=13032?d=20100925100437EDT Editor’s Note: This post comes to us from Elise Walton. Ms. Walton is a consultant specializing in corporate governance, strategic organization design and executive leadership. She was formerly a partner at Oliver Wyman for over 18 years, where she led major projects and served as the Corporate Governance practice leader.

HP has provided some interesting summer reading, which will apparently continue well into the fall. HP commentary covers the spectrum of opinion on corporations, executives, and stakeholders. The billionaire attacks the board for dismissing a CEO committed to shareholder wealth. Professors applaud good governance in dismissing a rogue. A shareholder sues over exit pay and labor asks why the CEO wins when jobs suffer. Competitors swipe at weakness; the press focuses on fumbles. Across the many views, the CEO is pre-eminent.

HP market value declines by $15 billion in the three weeks following the CEO departure. Tuesday’s uptick in HP’s stock price is explained on the message boards –the board has decided on the new CEO. The market speaks – it’s all about the CEO.

Yet, as if in spite of the missing CEO, HP keeps moving the ball down the field – winning the 3PAR bidding war (also acquiring Fortify and pursing ArcSight), reporting earnings, initiating a stock buyback, signing up customers (US Airforce, Thorntons and GS1), rolling out a hot new back-to-school lineup including a 3D computer – and even suing the departed CEO. HP is not missing a beat.

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