Mark Hurd resigns as head of HP

TechCrunch reports that Mark Hurd has resigned as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Hewlett-Packard.

Reports that he has resigned to join Carly Fiorina's Senate campaign are stupid, unsubstantiated rumors that I started myself.

Sadly, the reason for his resignation (according to the press release) is not a joke:

Hurd's decision was made following an investigation by outside legal counsel and the General Counsel's Office, overseen by the Board, of the facts and circumstances surrounding a claim of sexual harassment against Hurd and HP by a former contractor to HP. The investigation determined there was no violation of HP's sexual harassment policy, but did find violations of HP's Standards of Business Conduct.

You might recall that when David Letterman's extra-marital affairs came to light, there was a possibility the Letterman could have lost his job at CBS because of possible violations of CBS business conduct standards. He didn't, but Mark Hurd did.

The press release notes that CFO/interim CEO Cathie Lesjak has taken herself out of consideration for the permanent CEO position.