Ousted CEO Hurd set to reap 40 mn HP payday

Whatever Mark Hurd did that cost him his job as CEO of Hewlett-Packard,the worlds largest technology company,it wasnt enough to cost him a payday that could top 40 million. Meanwhile,with little still known about why an actress and HP contractor threatened Hurd with a sexual-harassment lawsuit,stockholders took a 9 billion hit Monday,and HP8217;s 300,000 workers were left to wonder about its future.

HP insisted that the problems it uncovered with the CEO8217;s behavior were limited to falsified expense reports for his dinners and other meetings with Jodie Fisher,who helped organize HP events from 2007 to 2009 and greeted executives at the gatherings. Hurd has settled with Fisher for an undisclosed sum,and both parties have said the relationship was not sexual. Hurd said an assistant prepared all of his expenses. He has offered to reimburse HP for the errors.

The company has offered no further details and says it is focused on finding a successor.

Hurd gets 12.2 million in severance,plus stock and options that could bring the total value of the package to more than 40 million,based on calculations by The Associated Press using HP8217;s stock price Friday,before HP disclosed the resignation.

Analysts said the generous package shows Hurd was highly valued for restoring steady results to the company,a Silicon Valley institution,after a period of upheaval that followed the stewardship of Carly Fiorina. Fiorina,the Republican nominee for Senate in California,got a severance package worth 21.1 million after she was ousted from HP in 2005.