HP CFO: $96 flight
By Sameer Batra

Technology giant Hewlett Packard (HP) has done well in recent years.  Under American law, HP has to file details of all salary, perks and costs incurred by its senior executives.

In Jan, 2009, HP had accidentally filed an incorrect document with the American SEC that claimed that their highly regarded Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd had been paid $240,000 for food expenses. As soon as the media picked up the story, HP backtracked saying it was a clerical mistake.

Now Footnoted is reporting that HP has filed a preliminary proxy saying their CFO Catherine Lesjak spent $96 on personal use of the corporate jet. According to Footednoted, corporate jets tend to cost as much as $6,000 an hour.

HP’s explanation? The $96 their CFO incurred while traveling on their corporate jet was because the ‘bill had been split’.

In case you are wondering how even a split bill on a corporate jet could be as low as $96, keep in mind that the HP CFO Catherine Lesjak spent only $13 on personal jet usage in 2008.
 

(Techgoss had published the following on Jan 22, 2009)

Hewlett Packard CEO Food bill $240,000
By Sameer Batra

Hewlett Packard India is a Rs. 16,000 crore well run company poised for even greater success.  It’s 48 year old Managing Director, Neelam Dhawan, resigned from Microsoft to rejoin HP. Hewlett Packard proudly advertises itself as “India’s No 1 technology company” and its businesses include PCs, laptops, servers, printers and even BPOs. It has a growth rate of 30% a year.

Neelam Dhawan rejoined HP in July, 2008 after a three-year stint with Microsoft. Neelam Dhawan gets her vision and business direction from Global Chairman and CEO, Mark Hurd. By all accounts, Mark Hurd is a great leader and successful businessman who has guided HP to huge commercial success. He is also on the News Corp Board of Directors.

So, what are salary and perks of HP CEO Mark Hurd?  The compensation matches his skills and contribution to the HP profits.  His total compensation package is $42 million a year. Footnoted.org reveals that CEO Hurd received “an other gross up” of $79,814, and the equally delicious footnote which explained that the money “represents amounts reimbursed to the NEOs for taxes on meals associated with business travel undertaken by the NEOs in connection with events to which family members were invited.”

Footnoted.org did detailed calculations to reveal that the HP CEO spent roughly US $243,000 on food.

Wonder how much Neelam Dhawan is paid for such corporate expenses?