Great move by Mark Hurd and HP’s PR team. Many times, perception is reality and if Hurd was on the cover as “Tech’s New King” people would immediately be looking for the king (or queen) to fall.
Hurd Turns Down Forbes Cover – Feb. 26, 2007: “HURD TURNS DOWN FORBES COVER
Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd turned down an opportunity to appear on the cover of the Feb. 12 Forbes because he refused to appear solo for the piece on ‘tech’s new king.’
Forbes’ Feb. 12 issue.
The former NCR boss, who assumed the reins at H-P 23 months ago, wanted to be flanked by members of his management team. Hurd also insisted that Forbes agree not to ‘crop them out.’
Instead Hurd, who is called the ‘UnCarly’ in a swipe against ousted CEO Carly Fiorina, appears in a picture surrounded the H-P workers inside the magazine.
The piece mentions that while Fiorina liked to ‘schmooze with world leaders and business titans at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Hurd skipped the gabfest.
Earlier, he spent the day working the floor at the Best Buy near H-P’s Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters to hear what shoppers had to say about H-P products.
Hurd’s turnaround of H-P included laying off 15,300 people in the personnel, finance and in-house tech departments.
H-P’s net is up 158 percent to $6B (fiscal `05) since Hurd joined the company. An H-P printer graces the cover of Forbes. “
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