Hewlett-Packard settles investor lawsuit for $57M
Hewlett-Packard has agreed to $57 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit.
Lance Murray
Technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to pay $57 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company's former management of defrauding shareholders by shedding a business model it had supported for a long time, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit was filed following the announcing in August 2011 by former CEO Leo Apotheker that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) planned to refocus on business services and possibly spin off the company's personal computer business.
Apotheker also announced that the company would scrap WebOS, which it had obtained when it purchased Palm Inc. in 2010, and that it would by the British software company Autonomy Plc for $11.1 billion. Hewlett-Packard also stopped sales of its TouchPad after seven weeks on the market, Reuters said.
Hewlett-Packard is the parent company of Plano-based HP Enterprise Services.
Reuters said that under the terms of the settlement, HP will deposit $57 million in an interest-bearing escrow account within 20 days.