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Hurd didn't pay a hooker. At worst he was having an affair with a events organiser. With full hindsight, I'd say the board wanted Hurd and consumer business out.

Some references:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-06/hp-chief-mark-hurd-...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hurd#Resignation

At worst, he used company funds to pay for his affair. That's a big no-no.

It's of course not OK to lie and get caught. If the board wanted him badly I am sure they would have found other ways of keeping him around - fines etc and worst case hiding it or downplaying it. Things aren't that simplistic at corporate board level of a multi billion company.

Fact of the matter is that he was going to be shown the door - if not for lying then for job performance. He just wasn't doing the things the board wanted him to do. That never ends well.

I wonder if Hurd stayed, regardless or not of personal issues, if he would've been fired for job performance.

To me it doesn't change, the HP board guided this company towards ruin.