I always smile over the remarkable quality of the scanned copies printed from my HP Photosmart printer/scanner. However, my smile is nothing like the smile on Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker’s face. After just eleven months on the job he will be an estimated about $25 million to $36 million richer.
Talk about mis-management. HP specializes in it! Look at the list of CEOs that have left that company with fortunes that the rest of us can only dream about.
CEO: Carly Fiorina (July 19, 1999 –February 9, 2005; Chairwoman September 22, 2000–February 9, 2005). Her severance package worth about $21.4 million.
President and CEO: Mark Hurd (CEO:April 1, 2005–August 6, 2010; Chairman:September 22, 2006–August 6, 2010). His severance package worth about $40 million.
There have been other high ranking departures as well. It’s a good bet they all were rewarded handsomely for screwing up this marvelous company.
The return for HP? The company is in a tail spin. It does not seem to know what its core strengths are. Clearly the board of directors does not know what to do to fix this giant. Perhaps they don’t really care.
Coast Contact 
You are right on! I don’t understand how you can loose a company money and walk away with a millions and millions. A person should be able to make as much money as they want. But they need to make the company money before they can get paid.
Boards of directors of many companies are also top executive of other companies. They all move in the same wealthy class and share the management of many American businesses. In HP’s case there appears to be a lack of concern for the company’s long term goals. Leadership in HP has been lacking for years. There has been no vision for the future. Mission statements ought to be guidelines to the vision. HP’s mission statement is vague and vapid. General Electric’s statement is clear. “Progress is our most important product.”