Born on 1st January, 1957, Mark Vincent Hurd is President of the Oracle Corporation and also one of the Board of Directors. In the past, Mr. Hurd had been the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard. He succeeded interim CEO and CFO Robert Wayman who had held the position from February 10th, 2005 to March 28th, 2005 because the board had forced Carly Fiorina, the former CEO to resign. Hurd had gotten the position of chairman on September 22, 2006 because Pat Dunn had resigned due to the pretexting controversy. On August 6, 2010, Mr. Hurd resigned from his positions at Hewlett-Packard, after an investigation was conducted for a sexual harassment claim filed an actress.
The investigation revealed that the sexual harassment policy of the company hadn’t been compromised, but the standards of business conduct had been violated, leading to Hurd’s resignation. Hurd was also a part of a coalition of chief executive officers and chairmen of IT firms called the Technology CEO Council that’s known to develop and support public policy positions concerning trade and technology. Until 2010, Mark V Hurd was also a board of director of News Corporation. From 1980 to 2005, Hurd worked at NCR Corporation and only two of his 25 years were spent as the president and chief executive officer of the company.
During his leadership, successful efforts were made by the company for bolstering the product line, improving the operating efficiency and building strong leadership. In 2004, the revenue of NCR rose by 7% to $6 billion and the net income of the company was $290 million, which was a fivefold increase. In 2005, Hurd was given the post of CEO of Hewlett-Packard and also held the title of President, one that hadn’t been used by most of his predecessors. He also became one of the Board of directors, but unlike CEOs before him, initially, he wasn’t given the position of chairman.
However, he was given the position in 2006 after Pat Dunn’s resignation. During his leadership, Hewlett-Packard became the first in the sale of laptop computers in 2006 and in the sale of desktop computers in 2007. The company’s market share in regard to laser and inkjet printers also increased to 50.5% and 46% respectively. Hurd had predicted that because of recession in 2009, the company’s sales would see a reduction of 5%, but instead, the company saw a 6% increase in its profits. Under Mr. Hurd’s leadership, HP saw a boost in profits for 22 straight quarters and was able to meet Wall Street Expectations for 21 of 22 quarters.
The stock price also doubled and there was a 63% increase in revenue. Even though the merger of Compaq and HP was heavily criticized, Hurd managed to make it successful, something his predecessor had failed to accomplish. He was named one of the 25 Most Powerful People in Business by Fortune Magazine in 2007. He also earned titles as the best CEO, best top executives, most influential executives and Market’s best managers.