Forbes.com: Tapping Carly's Phone
By Lisa DiCarlo
It's not so much what Carly Fiorina said on the voice mail to Bob Wayman. It's the fact that someone--an employee presumably--went to the extraordinary length of accessing Hewlett-Packard 's voice mail system, finding an unflattering message from the chief executive to the finance chief and anonymously leaving the message on the voice mail of a news reporter.
Of course, we don't know that person by name, but it looks like it's probably an employee. The fact that an employee would go to such lengths to apparently disrupt HP's (NYSE:HWP - news) takeover of Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ - news) illustrates an incredibly high level of bitterness towards senior management about the deal.
"It's a form of sabotage," says Roger Kay of International Data Corp.
218157Carly Fiorina Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP - news) It is clearly a person with intimate knowledge of HP's telecommunications servers and possibly someone who might have an inkling of the types of conversations that Chief Executive Carly Fiorina has with Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Fiorina left a message for Wayman on March 17, two days before the shareholder vote on its acquisition. She told him that HP "may have to do something extraordinary" to secure the support of two large shareholders, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB - news) and Northern Trust (NasdaqNM:NTRS - news) . HP closed a multibillion credit facility with Deutsche Bank on March 17.
The call does not prove Walter Hewlett's claim that HP improperly used its might to secure the support of Deutsche Bank. But it certainly doesn't help HP's case. Hewlett is suing HP and hoping for a do-over on the vote. This week a Delaware judge denied HP's motion for dismissal, and the case is set for a trial later this month.
A major bone of contention between HP and the heirs of its co-founders, who oppose the deal, is the level of support amongst employees. HP says that more than 60% support the acquisition, while other studies commissioned by David Packard show the polar opposite.
Whoever is right, there hasn't been (at least thus far) anyone willing to break the law to show their support of the deal. IDC's Kay says employees may feel alienated and may feel they should use whatever is at their disposal.
"Julius Caesar said that when you push people to the edge, they revolt any way they can."
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