HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn resigns, effective immediately

We've just received word that HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn has resigned, effective immediately, in the wake of the corporate spying scandal that has plagued the company for weeks -- keep in mind that this is the same woman who previously said she would not step down until 2007. Earlier this month, it was revealed that while undergoing a leak investigation, HP had hired private investigators who accessed private phone records of company boardmembers and nine journalists without their permission. The investigators are said to have used pretexting -- the sleazy (not to mention illegal) act of impersonating someone else to gain access to their confidential records -- in order to acquire this information. The now-departed chairwoman, who took over from Carly Fiorina only 18 months ago, had authorized the leak investigation earlier this year to learn who among the company's board had revealed corporate information to CNET News in 2005. Dunn, other company higher-ups, and the private investigators will likely face criminal charges; Bill Lockyer, California's attorney general, said earlier this week on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" that "We currently have sufficient evidence to indict people both within Hewlett-Packard, as well as contractors on the outside." Dunn, who also recently won the Bay Area Council's Hall of Fame Leadership award (she really did), isn't quite out of the woods just yet -- she will almost certainly get completely throttled when she has to answer questions before a Congressional committee next week.

[Sean Brody @ Sep 22nd 2006 6:11PM]

HP is a good company that has exec's who don't know how to run a business! They make exelent products on average and it's a shame to see this have to happen. I hope they can hire someone who can turn this leadership around and save this company before things get worse.

[Lee Gibson @ Sep 22nd 2006 6:26PM]

"HP is a good company"

15 years ago, maybe. Now they just make inkjet cartridges, and whatever ancillary hardware they need to produce in order to sell more inkjet cartridges.

[Paul @ Sep 22nd 2006 6:19PM]

Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey good bye!

[Michael @ Sep 22nd 2006 6:36PM]

The only question I have is if she's going to a country club jail or a jail like regular citizens would go to...

[Jonny Nutsack @ Sep 22nd 2006 6:37PM]

Resigns with a multi-million dollar golden parachute, no doubt.

[Zizz @ Sep 22nd 2006 7:44PM]

Women in power, men should scour!

[Jayhawk @ Sep 22nd 2006 7:57PM]

Simply horrible privacy intrusions, even extending to journalists. She should have been canned, not allowed to resign. Like said above, she probably gets a big fat severence package.

Jayhawk

[Mr. Mike @ Sep 22nd 2006 8:47PM]

The whole printer/ink industry is sleazy. Copy counters on cartridges .... ? I mean really, does this surprise anyone?

[hehehhehe @ Sep 22nd 2006 9:50PM]

Yeah, HP used to be a great company before Fiorina, Dunn and co. ruined it. With BS like this exposed, I am starting to wonder what kind of things went on for them (especially Fiorina) to stay on board so long despite their lackluster performance.

[tekdroid @ Sep 22nd 2006 10:33PM]

too much blush. Pinkish skintones. HighPriced's inks aren't what they used to be.

[Darrell Lucas @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:28AM]

Uhh They dont just make Ink Catridges.. My last two PC's have been HP and they worked wonderfuly.. I gave my old one to my gf and it works fine.. Im currently using a HP media center PC and it freaking awsome. So i just had to give some props there.. Imagin how awsome that company would be if their CEO really cared about its products...

[Dennis @ Sep 23rd 2006 8:17AM]

Amen Darrell, amen.... my last 2 lappys have been HP.. I used to be a VAIO fanboy but I just couldn't ignore HPs better specs at lower prices. I've never had a problem with my HP laptops and I've never ever had a problem with my HP printer either. Admittedly printer ink is expensive, but that's true with all the major printer and ink suppliers. So really HP is the best out there at the moment.

[Joey @ Sep 23rd 2006 2:52AM]

Anyone who thinks HP just makes ink cartridges and home PCs is clueless as to what HP actually does. Their NonStop Himalaya servers (formerly Tandem) are a banking and telecom industry standard for transaction processing and switching, and cost more than the average American makes in 20 years. HP is a leadership black hole as of late, but they're not going anywhere just yet.

[Andy @ Sep 23rd 2006 3:50AM]

Better than Enron. At least we're progressing on white collar crimes.

[frantic @ Sep 23rd 2006 4:50AM]

Poor, poor Eddie Izzard.

[Harsey @ Sep 23rd 2006 12:06PM]

OOh.. this is only going to get more interesting. /me sits and watches

[Snakester @ Sep 23rd 2006 3:03PM]

Like I give a crap about this when there are criminals whose actions actually affect me every day - like the privately owned federal reserve and other private, central wankers/bankers - who effect synthetic fluctuations of the market and are currently devaluing (inflating) our already pathetic currency. We should get Dunn & Co. to put the eye on them. Then she could redeem herself and be useful.

And since when are journalists so sacrosanct? They get the same treatment they give and suddenly it's so unfair. Waaaahhhhh. Give me a break.

BTW, the government does this and a lot worse to us everyday, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of indignance over that. I predict a large fleecing of the sheeple in the next two years.

[G3EK @ Sep 23rd 2006 6:08PM]

Since the days of Madamme Carly Fiorina the company has turned "motherly." They have women who couldn't hook up a modem or a monitor to the PC now promoted and in charge of an entire technical department, jetting in style back and forth to Nice (as in South of France) making global decisions for the company, while the guys are systematically laid off left and right. The board must be really blind, and may never learn. That's what you get when you have sisterhood in power; they think they can pull the same stunt they use on their hubbies at home.

[Phantom1219 @ Sep 23rd 2006 8:48PM]

I've gotta agree with frantic. She does look very manly, but she could probably run a business better than I could...wait a minute. Nevermind. Good luck to her anyway.

[Steve Packard @ Sep 23rd 2006 11:01PM]

I cant believe they changed to HP. I mean..shortening it to the initials. I liked the old name better. Also, it was cooler when they made all kinds of industrial equipment as their core buisiness.

[George @ Sep 26th 2006 11:50AM]

It is a terrible shame that she had to depart due to this scandal. Beneath the scandal was a incredible woman who contributed to the community and helped HP regain a bit of its shiny image from the past. I won't offer any excuses for her illegal efforts and believe the decision to resign, terminate ASAP is in the company's best interest.

I however am definitely in the minority when it comes to this story as I feel that her intentions were good. She wanted to find out why someone amongst them would betray the company and those who work hard to bring HP back to prominence. I find it interesting that NO ONE is covering (what I liken to corporate espionage) the actions of George Keyworth. Note, he has ignored calls to resign for his part in the leaks. Directors, execs, employees sign confidentiality agreements and Mr. Keyworth broke that agreement.

Leaks are incredibly troublesome to corporations and governments alike. The concerns raised by Apple, Google and other firms are completely valid when reporters are given free reign over company secrets. In the age of blogs and anonymous posting, whistleblowing illegal actions is one thing, reporting proprietary and IP info is a completely different issue.

Ultimately Dunn will get what she deserves. CNET and Engadget will cheer her downfall, while raising Keyworth and those like him "god" status.

[Brian Alvey @ Sep 27th 2006 1:07PM]

Interesting.

[Doug Rees @ Sep 29th 2006 10:38AM]

A few years ago (I believe it was before Ms Dunn's time), I installed a new HP desktop computer for a friend. Following my normal practice, I immediately installed AdAware and ran a spyware scan. I was amazed to find that HP had already installed tons of spyware on the system (which I removed). Apparently the reason HP could sell the system so cheaply was that they had sold other companies the right to put their intrusive software on HP's home computers.

Why wasn't there as much of a hue and cry about that invasion of privacy (which affected far more people) than this one? Is it because journalists were directly targeted in this case?

[Eckmb @ Oct 25th 2006 1:34AM]

Zizz wrote:
"Women in power, men should scour!"

Tekdroid wrote:
"too much blush. Pinkish skintones. HighPriced's inks aren't what they used to be."

G3EK wrote:
"Since the days of Madamme Carly Fiorina the company has turned "motherly." They have women who couldn't hook up a modem or a monitor to the PC now promoted and in charge of an entire technical department, jetting in style back and forth to Nice (as in South of France) making global decisions for the company, while the guys are systematically laid off left and right. The board must be really blind, and may never learn. That's what you get when you have sisterhood in power; they think they can pull the same stunt they use on their hubbies at home."

----------------------------------------

HP needs a man to run the company this time around. Too much estrogen, plain and simple.

[Gob @ Jan 13th 2007 3:49AM]

Women shouldn't be CEO's of large companies. They're no good at this. Men can fail, too, but women most always go bust when they try to run a huge corporation. They always have big chips on their shoulders, they're too driven by their emotions, and always have too much to prove. Two female failures in a row for HP. Should be a big sign they need a man to run things. Women don't belong at the helm of big corporations for the same reasons we don't see female generals in the military or female presidents. Just the way it is.