HP CEO Mark Hurd resigned over a sexual harassment allegation leveled by a former HP contractor. The company says an investigation by outside counsel found no sexual harassment violation, though there were violations of HP's Standards of Business Conduct. Updated
The news comes by way of a press release just issued by the company. CFO Cathie Lesjak will serve as interim CEO while the Board of Directors searches for a new head. Shocking stuff (that naturally gets slipped in last thing Friday afternoon.) [BusinessWire]
Update: Engadget hopped on the media call following the press release, which cleared things up a bit. HP's saying that Hurd "submitted inaccurate expense reports to conceal his relationship with the contractor, and that violated HP's standards of business conduct." There were apparently "numerous instances" and "HP paid the contractor's fees for services and her expenses [though] there was a question about whether her services were actually provided."
Update 2: HP's stock is down 10% in after hours trading, according to SAI.
Update 3: Apparently Hurd is receiving a generous severance package to ease the pain of this resignation. He'll get $12 million in cash and a great deal of stock options—a total package of about $40-$50 million.
Update 4: The accuser is actress Jodie Fisher, who was a reality TV and softcore porn actress.