Events leading up to the boardroom scandal at Hewlett-Packard Co. over the company’s investigation of media leaks:
— Feb. 9, 2005: Board member Patricia Dunn announces that Chief Executive Carleton Fiorina has been fired. Dunn assumes role as nonexecutive chairwoman and oversees the hunt for Fiorina’s successor.
— March 29, 2005: Dunn announces that Mark Hurd has been hired as the new CEO. Dunn retains the chairwoman title.
— Jan. 23, 2006: CNET Network Inc.’s News.com publishes a story quoting an anonymous HP source who described a confidential gathering of HP directors. Although the source didn’t say anything inflammatory, the leak reportedly angered Dunn.
— Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2006: Someone creates an online account in the name of HP board member and noted Silicon Valley venture capitalist Thomas Perkins and orders his home phone records from AT&T Inc.
— May 18, 2006: During a board meeting, Dunn identifies the leaker as George Keyworth II, the longest-serving HP director. The board asks Keyworth to resign, but he refuses. Perkins gets angry, resigns and storms out of the meeting.
— May 22, 2006: HP files a routine document with the Securities and Exchange Commission to notify investors that Perkins has resigned.
— June and July 2006: Perkins and his attorney demand information from HP about the methods used to identify Keyworth as a leaker. Perkins begins asking HP to submit details of his resignation and the probe into his home phone numbers to the SEC.
— Aug. 16, 2006: Investigators for California’s attorney general and the California Highway Patrol Computer Crimes Investigation Unit meet with AT&T executives. AT&T confirms that it’s conducting an internal review of pretexting, the practice of impersonating a person in order to access their private information.
— Aug. 31, 2006: The State of California issues a search warrant for Cox Communications Inc., which owns the Internet address where Perkins’ phone records were sent.
— Sept. 6, 2006: HP reports to the SEC that it used pretexting to get phone records of “HP directors and individuals outside of HP.”
— Sept. 7, 2006: California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announces that the pretexting broke two state laws governing identity theft and illegal access to computer records, and that his office was investigating whether criminal charges were warranted.
— Sept. 8, 2006: Dunn calls journalists who were targeted by pretexters to apologize, but defends the right of the company to determine the source of the leaks.
— Sept. 9, 2006: Perkins calls on Dunn to resign.
— Sept. 11, 2006: A House committee requests documents related to the leak investigation as part of its ongoing probe of pretexting, while the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Francisco and the FBI confirm they are conducting their own probe of HP’s conduct.
— Sept. 12, 2006: HP announces that Dunn will step down as chairwoman in January 2007 and be replaced by Hurd. Dunn will remain a director, while Richard Hackborn will become lead independent director in January.
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