HP Slams Dissident Director Hewlett

Hewlett-Packard Co. launched its most scathing attack yet on dissident director Walter Hewlett and his opposition to the merger with Compaq Computer Corp., calling him a “man who has no plan” for the future of the company.

With less than a month until shareholders vote on the $21-billion merger and the outcome far from clear, HP board members said Hewlett’s proposals announced this week amounted to a cobbled together, “now you see it, now you don’t” strategy.

In the open letter to shareholders, HP said “When Walter Hewlett tells you he has no plan and then says he really has one, and then vehemently denies he has a plan and then says he has a new plan--all in a matter of two weeks--only one thing is entirely clear: This is a man who has no plan for the future of your company or your investments in HP shares,” the letter said.

Hewlett responded with a brief statement defending his calculations that HP would be worth $14 to $17 a share more without Compaq.

Shares of Hewlett closed off 17 cents at $19.29, while Compaq rose 21 cents to $10.50, both on the New York Stock Exchange.