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Hewlett-Packard’s board ousted CEO Mark Hurd when an investigation into sexual-harassment allegations uncovered not only inappropriate dealings with Jodie Fisher, an HP marketing contractor, but also that he had another relationship with a female executive at a rival company, The Post has learned.
The Hurd romance was with a married vice president of sales at Sun Microsystems, an HP competitor, while he was still CEO, according to one source close to the investigation. Hurd was also married.
A second source close to the investigation confirmed that Hurd was having a romance.
In 2006 HP was the leader in the enterprise server market, with about a 27 percent share, while Sun ranked No. 3 with 11 percent of the market. Oracle, which acquired Sun in 2010, hired Hurd as president in September after he resigned from HP.
The relationship with the Sun executive was consensual, the source said, in contrast to Fisher’s allegations in her June 29 letter to HP’s board that she rebuffed Hurd’s advances.
HP directors were also disturbed by Fisher’s allegations that Hurd, during the time they worked closely together, had divulged information to her that she could have used to profit from trading in HP shares, the source said.
The letter does not say whether or not Fisher traded on the information.
“That would be singular grounds for ouster,” securities lawyer John Lawlor said of the alleged insider information leak by Hurd.
Lawlor, who wasn’t involved in HP’s investigation, noted that, “it would be a breach of fiduciary responsibility to the corporation” even if Fisher did not use the information.
Fisher also said in her complaint that Hurd told her personal details about his marriage.
Fisher, through her lawyer, Gloria Allred, declined to comment on the contents of her letter.
Hurd, when reached yesterday, declined to comment.
An HP spokeswoman said it is focused on the future of the company. The 53-year-old tech exec stepped down as CEO on Aug. 6 after reaching a settlement with Fisher but before the board had a chance to complete its investigation into the allegations.
The settlement between Fisher and Hurd hasn’t been disclosed.
Later that month, Hurd also left the board of News Corp., where he had been a director since February 2008. News Corp. owns The Post.
HP’s board has said publicly that while its probe found no evidence of sexual harassment, it uncovered other troubling behavior by Hurd.
Company officials have said publicly that Hurd ran far afoul of company policy by altering expense reports to hide an inappropriate relationship with Fisher.
Meanwhile, HP’s board has come under criticism from investors and competitors, including Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison, for the way it handled Hurd’s resignation. HP directors have also battled Hurd in public — by suing its former leader — and behind the scenes over the scandal.
In a letter to the New York Times last week defending Hurd’s dismissal, HP Chairman Ray Lane said Hurd “violated the trust of the board by repeatedly lying to them in the course of an investigation into his conduct,” without giving specifics.
HP shareholders have also sued the company over its handling of the Hurd affair.
Fisher, 50, a former soft-core porn actress who had also posed for Playboy while in her twenties, said Hurd hired her as an outside contractor to work as a professional greeter at corporate events between 2007 and 2009. According to her June letter of complaint, Hurd invited her to be the greeter at corporate events that other company executives were supposedly going to attend but, when she showed up sometimes Hurd would be the only person in attendance.
In the letter, Fisher, who had no known prior experience in the technology industry, claimed she had been the long-time girlfriend of film star Kevin Costner, and that she met Hurd through a Hollywood connection, according to a source.
A former friend, who declined to be named, said Fisher also told her about the relationship with Costner, which ended when he left Fisher for Christine Baumgartner, whom he married in 2004. A spokesman for Costner declined to comment.
The friend said Fisher told her in 2007 that she had started her own firm to handle events, symposiums and cocktail parties for top executives, and that her biggest client was HP.
Fisher was trying a new career path after being forced out in early 2007 as a roughly $60,000-a-year property manager of the Belle Fontaine apartment complex in Marina Del Rey, Calif., sources said.
At least part of the time when she was working for HP, Fisher was struggling financially, filing for bankruptcy at one point, a source said.