Mark Hurd

Mark Hurd was an American business executive renowned for his operational expertise and financial acumen in the technology industry. He served as the chief executive officer of NCR and later HP, where he oversaw a significant turnaround, before becoming co-CEO of Oracle Corporation. His career was marked by aggressive cost-cutting, strategic acquisitions, and substantial revenue growth, though it was also punctuated by controversy leading to his departure from HP.

Early life and education

Mark Hurd was born in New York City and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, on a tennis scholarship, playing for the Baylor Bears team. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, having developed a strong foundation in business principles that would underpin his future corporate leadership roles.

Career at NCR

Hurd joined NCR Corporation in 1980 as a junior salesman and spent his entire early career at the Dayton-based technology company. He rose steadily through the ranks, holding various management positions in sales, marketing, and services across different divisions. In 2003, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer, and later that year, he succeeded Lars Nyberg as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. At NCR, he was credited with streamlining operations, improving profitability, and refocusing the company on its core ATM and retail systems businesses.

Tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard

Hurd was hired as CEO and President of Hewlett-Packard in 2005, succeeding the ousted Carly Fiorina. He quickly implemented a major restructuring, cutting thousands of jobs and consolidating divisions to reduce costs. Under his leadership, HP surpassed IBM to become the world's largest IT company by revenue, driven by strategic acquisitions like EDS and 3Com, and significant growth in the personal computer and printer businesses. His tenure saw HP's stock price triple, but it ended abruptly in 2010 following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and expense report irregularities, which led to his resignation despite the board finding no violation of the sexual harassment policy.

Later career and Oracle leadership

Weeks after leaving HP, Hurd was hired by Oracle Corporation founder Larry Ellison as President and a member of the board of directors. In 2014, he was named co-CEO alongside Safra Catz, following the departure of Ellison from that role. At Oracle, Hurd focused on driving the company's cloud computing and enterprise software sales efforts, competing directly with rivals like AWS and Salesforce. He took a medical leave of absence in September 2019, and his role was assumed by Catz and Ellison.

Personal life and death

Hurd was married to Paula Kalupa from 1990 until his death, and they had two daughters. He was known as a private individual, an avid golfer, and a dedicated fan of tennis and college football. In 2019, he disclosed he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified illness. Mark Hurd died on October 18, 2019, in London, England. His death was met with tributes from across the Silicon Valley business community, including from former colleagues Larry Ellison and Meg Whitman.

Category:American chief executives Category:American technology company founders Category:1957 births Category:2019 deaths