HP Exec Feels Violated by Voicemail Release

A top Hewlett-Packard Co. executive said he feels violated by the release of a voicemail to him from Chief Executive Carly Fiorina but pledged that “our honor will be restored” in the upcoming trial over the Compaq Computer Corp. acquisition.

Robert Wayman, HP’s chief financial officer, was responding to the disclosure that in a message two nights before the March 19 shareholder vote on the Compaq deal, Fiorina told him “we may have to do something extraordinary” for two large investors to win their support.

In a memo to HP employees that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wayman said the leaked voicemail refers merely to the slew of in-depth, in-person presentations to investors that HP executives made in the days before the shareholder vote.

“Neither Carly nor I would ever act improperly in any business matter--much less use business assets to secure votes,” Wayman wrote. “The only good news about participating in a trial is that the facts will come out, the truth will be heard and our honor will be restored.”