Hurd as CEO and president in early 2005, in the wake of a different scandal. His top priority then was to stabilize HP after taking over the CEO reins from Carly Fiorina, who architected HP’s 2002 acquisition of Compaq.

A little more than a year later, Hurd added the title of chairman after . Dunn had ordered an investigation into leaks of company information to the media, and HP admitted to obtain the telephone records of nine reporters as part of its internal probe

During Hurd’s time with HP, the company has more than stabilized. Between the company’s 2006 and 2009 fiscal years, HP grew revenue from $91.6 billion to $114.6 billion and more than doubled its earnings per share.

Even during a challenging 2009 fiscal year, Hurd minimized HP’s financial slide. For the year ended Oct. 31, 2009, HP's revenue came in at $114.6 billion, a decline of 3% compared to $118.4 billion reported a year earlier. Net income fell 8% to $7.7 billion from $8.3 billion in 2008.