Mark Hurd reportedly contacted about running Dell after buyout
Private-equity group making rival bid for the computer maker has reportedly discussed the CEO's position with the former HP chief.
Mark Hurd, the former chief executive at Hewlett-Packard, has reportedly been approached by an investment group about the possibility of running rival Dell if its buyout effort of the computer maker is successful.
Private-equity firm Blackstone, which is reportedly making a bid for Dell to rival a $24.4 billion buyout offer from Silver Lake and Michael Dell, has discussed the position with Hurd, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. Earlier today, Fortune reported that Hurd was one of Blackstone's top candidates to run the computer maker if its bid were successful and Dell founder Michael Dell opted not to stay on, a distinct likelihood were his group's to fail.
It's unclear whether Hurd expressed any interest in the position, but Fortune reported that Blackstone's informal recruiting effort was said to be "aggressive."
CNET has contacted Dell and Oracle for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Dell announced in February that it had plans to take the company private via a $24.4 billion, or $13.65 per share, buyout by its founder and CEO Michael Dell, who owns about 14 percent of Dell's common shares, and private equity firm Silver Lake. Microsoft also kicked in a $2 billion loan.
Hurd, who is currently Oracle's president, resigned from HP in 2010 after it was revealed that HP had conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment involving him. HP's board conducted an investigation with outside investigators and concluded that while Hurd had not violated the company's sexual harassment policy, his conduct "exhibited a profound lack of judgment."