Corporate America Without Dunn on HP's Board

I don't know if you have been tracking the Hewlett-Parkard debacle. I have -- every last little word because I wanted to see how the poor little powerful rich boy -- Tom Perkins -- got his ball (no pun intended) taken away during a board game and got very, very mad. In reaction, he quit the HP board (fully not expecting the board to accept his resignation). But he didn't stop short there. He went after Dunn on all legal fronts to take her down from the position of nonexecutive board Chairman of HP. And take her down he did. She will step down effective January, 2007 although she will remain an HP director.

In case you are not up to speed, Dunn led an investigation (see below) that led to the possible illegal procurement of phone records for board members and several journalists. Tom Perkins did not like the process. It's no wonder. His records were accessed.

Despite what appears to be a sneaky method to access those records, what we cannot overlook here is the fact that Dunn achieved results: She found the leaker. As the following article states, "Meanwhile director George Keyworth, who acknowledged that he was the source of news leaks that started the scandal last year, resigned from HP's board." I might add that George Keyworth is a very good friend of Tom Perkins.

And here's what Dunn said yesterday about her actions ... "These leaks had the potential to affect not only the stock price of HP but also that of other publicly traded companies."

If Dunn had to lose her chairwomanship on the HP board to find the leaker -- so be it. I just don't understand why it seems to always be a woman who steps up to the plate, faces reality and ends up paying a pretty severe price for watching out for the good of company shareholders. Need I bring up Enron?

Read more here >> HP After Dunn

Backstories:

MSNBC

The Smoking Gun

CNET

USATODAY.com