Former Compaq Exec Resigns from HP

Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday announced the resignation of Jeff Clarke, a former Compaq Computer Corp. executive who coordinated the integration of the companies’ business operations as part of Hewlett-Packard’s $18.9-billion acquisition of its chief rival.

Hewlett-Packard, headquartered in Palo Alto, said in a statement Tuesday that the departure of Clarke, executive vice president of global operations, was a mutual decision and effective immediately.

The company did not say whether it planned to replace him.

Clarke, who was Compaq’s chief financial officer before the May 2002 acquisition, is the latest senior manager to depart Hewlett-Packard, which has been restructuring business units and laying off thousands of workers in an 18-month effort to increase revenue and boost efficiency.

Webb McKinney, who led the integration effort with Clarke, announced earlier this month that he would retire at year’s end. Several executives in charge of other divisions will assume his responsibilities.

Hewlett-Packard human resources leader Susan Bowick also will retire at the end of the year. Mary McDowell, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, accepted a buyout package earlier this month, upon return from a sabbatical.

John A. Jackson, Hewlett-Packard’s director of business continuity services, quit and joined rival IBM Corp. in October.

Mark Sorenson, a vice president in the storage software division and former Compaq executive, resigned this summer and joined Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp., where he assumed the new position of senior vice president for information access and recovery software.

Michael Capellas, named chairman and chief executive of Compaq in 2000, resigned as president of Hewlett-Packard a year ago. He become chief executive of WorldCom Inc. after Bernard J. Ebbers was forced out in April 2002.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard fell 24 cents to $21.66 on the New York Stock Exchange.