HP's Hurd collects $8.6M bonus last year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive and Chairman Mark Hurd collected a handsome $8.6 million bonus in 2006, in a year that was marked by a company turnaround and a headline-grabbing boardroom scandal.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, computer maker HP (up $0.40 to $42.71, Charts) revealed that in addition to his bonus, Hurd received an annual salary of $1.4 million.

Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd

The filing also revealed that Hurd received options on 500,000 shares of the company's stock.

Last year was particularly troubling for the Palo Alto, California-based as the company disclosed it spied on board members and journalists to identify the source of a boardroom leak to the media.

The scandal ultimately led to the dismissal of then-Chairman Patricia Dunn, who allegedly initiated the investigation into the leak, and several other HP employees.

Hurd denied his involvement, saying that he received a report that outlined the methods HP investigators used to locate the source of the leak but that he didn't read it.

Nevertheless, Hurd helped reinvigorate the PC maker following the departure of former company chief Carly Fiorina in February 2005.

Using cost-cutting measures, Hurd helped catapult HP into the top spot in the PC market over rival Dell (up $0.10 to $24.39, Charts), while shares of the company soared over 43 percent last year.

Bosses behaving badly