Apple hires HP's top corporate attorney
Apple this week filled a years-long void in legal department, luring Hewlett-Packard's top corporate lawyer to head up its own corporate affairs department, Law.com is reporting.
Charles Charnas, deputy general counsel at HP, is said to be the first major acquisition of Apple's new general counsel Daniel Cooperman, filling a seat at the Cupertino-based electronics maker that has been vacant since Michael Wyatt departed in 2000.
Charnas will report to Cooperman and oversee the company's intellectual property and play a primary role in strategic acquisitions, among other things. He was elected Assistant Secretary at HP in 1999 and three years later promoted to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.
During his 18-year tenure at HP, Charnas managed the $4.5 billion purchase of Mercury Interactive and also presided over the company's 2001 battle to acquire Compaq for $25 billion.
Charnas is also said to be a proud iPhone owner and avid guitar player. He can been seen in the below YouTube video playing a tribute HP's former CFO Bob Wayman at his retirement party.
Charles Charnas, deputy general counsel at HP, is said to be the first major acquisition of Apple's new general counsel Daniel Cooperman, filling a seat at the Cupertino-based electronics maker that has been vacant since Michael Wyatt departed in 2000.
Charnas will report to Cooperman and oversee the company's intellectual property and play a primary role in strategic acquisitions, among other things. He was elected Assistant Secretary at HP in 1999 and three years later promoted to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.
During his 18-year tenure at HP, Charnas managed the $4.5 billion purchase of Mercury Interactive and also presided over the company's 2001 battle to acquire Compaq for $25 billion.
Charnas is also said to be a proud iPhone owner and avid guitar player. He can been seen in the below YouTube video playing a tribute HP's former CFO Bob Wayman at his retirement party.
Comments
Please. They offered the guy a job and he took it.
Did they use headlights and a scatter gun?
Please. They offered the guy a job and he took it.
That was my comment also. Poaching is very different from hiring. Another misleading "Faux News"-style headline. Can we reign these in a bit?
I disagree with both of you, but changed it nonetheless cause I'm really growing tired of the constant bitching on this forum over nonsense. I hope this satisfies you guys.
Charnas was an 18-year employee of HP who was sought out and lured away with incentives.
In the future, if you have an objection to a headline, a paragraph, a misplaced comma, the number of words we include in a link, etc, please just mail me at kasper (at) appleinsider (dot) com instead tarnishing our discussion threads. OK?
Thank you and enjoy your weekend, guys,
K
All you need to do is ask the Mercury personnel how miserable they are in the HP environment to learn that although Charnas might have secured the deal the M&A might not prove to be all that hot. Besides, the persona of Apple is so different from Charnas has to offer. Apple used to be special..now it is becoming like every other large corporation. Sad.
Man, you must live in a world of disgruntals.
I disagree with both of you, but changed it nonetheless cause I'm really growing tired of the constant bitching on this forum over nonsense. I hope this satisfies you guys.
Charnas was an 18-year employee of HP who was sought out and lured away with incentives.
In the future, if you have an objection to a headline, a paragraph, a misplaced comma, the number of words we include in a link, etc, please just mail me at kasper (at) appleinsider (dot) com instead tarnishing our discussion threads. OK?
Thank you and enjoy your weekend, guys,
K
In my opinion, no one is "above the law" on a public forum like this, so it can only improve things when inaccuracies (even perceived inaccuracies) are criticized.
No one is interested in "tarnishing" AppleInsider Kasper. We criticize because we care.
Enjoy your weekend too, Kasper.
just wait until you hear his first big single... brought to you exclusively from itunes!
oh, and have a great weekend (I hope this isn't a new trend)
All you need to do is ask the Mercury personnel how miserable they are in the HP environment to learn that although Charnas might have secured the deal the M&A might not prove to be all that hot. Besides, the persona of Apple is so different from Charnas has to offer. Apple used to be special..now it is becoming like every other large corporation. Sad.
Ok, that makes no sense. Apple is a not tainted because they hired a guy who orchestrated a merger that--like most mergers--led to some discomfort to the staff of the no-longer-independent company? Whatever.
Isn't the much more interesting point that Apple just hired a guy with experience with large scale mergers into a position that was vacant for the better part of a decade. It has to make one at least curious about this as a strategic move. It certainly better positions Apple to use their huge cash stockpile to buy important companies (as opposed to small software development groups). I'm not making a prediction, but Apple better positioned to acquire a company like TiVo then they were before they hired this dude. I doubt that's a coincidence. (On the other hand I won't be surprised if a year from now we learn that he as left Apple because there were no major acquisitions even being considered.)
p.s. have a good weekend
Did they use headlights and a scatter gun?
Please. They offered the guy a job and he took it.
You mean they didn't boil him in water?
Please. Words have more than one meaning. If you can't adjust to that, maybe you need to learn and use some other language. I'm not sure if such a language exists though.
All you need to do is ask the Mercury personnel how miserable they are in the HP environment to learn that although Charnas might have secured the deal the M&A might not prove to be all that hot. Besides, the persona of Apple is so different from Charnas has to offer. Apple used to be special..now it is becoming like every other large corporation. Sad.
I think blaming the lawyer for the merger of corporations is like blaming a divorce lawyer for breaking up a marriage.
Moreover, the lack of ethics and the bungling around the infamous "pretexting" (spying on reporters) incident engineered by these legal marvels (seemingly with the acquiescence of then Chair of the Board, Patricia Dunn) left HP's reputation deeply tarnished.
As Apple struggles with its growing pains it now assimilates into the what other large corporations have become?including the bad. However, if Apple wants to play in those leagues it will now have to have a realistic succession plan for Jobs' position (should Jobs keel-over tomorrow, I bet Apple's stock would plummet $100 a share). These realities were the same that hit HP when Bill and Dave (although Bill and Dave were not linked to HP like Jobs is in the eyes of the public) did not have a succession plan, and HP now simply rides on the substantial earnings, and the tiring wheels of motion, that Bill and Dave established...little else.
I think blaming the lawyer for the merger of corporations is like blaming a divorce lawyer for breaking up a marriage.
Excellent lawyers have excellent business savvy (if you have ever worked with high-end lawyers, and not bloody corporate lawyers you would see this aspect).
In my opinion, no one is "above the law" on a public forum like this, so it can only improve things when inaccuracies (even perceived inaccuracies) are criticized.
No one is interested in "tarnishing" AppleInsider Kasper. We criticize because we care.
Enjoy your weekend too, Kasper.
I just think Kasper is saying "there is a time and place for everything".
"Children should be seen and not heard", "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater", "Silence is golden", "There are times when silence has the loudest voice" and all other folk-lore catchphrases.
Kasper knows you care, he's just asking you where it's appropriate to show that care. Kind of like military portocol of one officer keeping silent even though disagreeing with a higher ranking officer becasue they are in front of enlisted personnel, but rather makes the disagreement known under the proper circumstances... is all "K" is saying I think.
Everybody have a great weekend!
Hope he's worth it. But I sure do hope he doesn't talk Apple into some "strategic acquisition": HP-Compaq was an unmitigated disaster. (Btw, if you hear the words "strategic," "acquisition", and "lots of cash" in the same sentence, head for the exits).
Moreover, the lack of ethics and the bungling around the infamous "pretexting" (spying on reporters) incident engineered by these legal marvels (seemingly with the acquiescence of then Chair of the Board, Patricia Dunn) left HP's reputation deeply tarnished.
Is that how it works? Will he be trying to talk Apple into something or will he just be the
person to carry out the desires of the executives and board members above him in the
hierarchy?
HP was around eighteenish in 2002 when it merged with Compaq and it is around 45
now, so I would have to say the disaster has been mitigated somewhat.
Some would argue that AAPL's ethics have been smudged a bit lately, so maybe he
will fit right in or maybe, with his history, he will make a convenient future scapegoat.
Hope he's worth it. But I sure do hope he doesn't talk Apple into some "strategic acquisition": HP-Compaq was an unmitigated disaster. (Btw, if you hear the words "strategic," "acquisition", and "lots of cash" in the same sentence, head for the exits).
Moreover, the lack of ethics and the bungling around the infamous "pretexting" (spying on reporters) incident engineered by these legal marvels (seemingly with the acquiescence of then Chair of the Board, Patricia Dunn) left HP's reputation deeply tarnished.
The "unmitigated disaster" thing hasn't been my impression at all. In fact HP has been doing quite well in the market since acquiring Compaq--consistently nipping at Dell's heels and sometimes pulling ahead-- and the Compaq shot in the arm seems to me to be a major reason.
I disagree with both of you, but changed it nonetheless cause I'm really growing tired of the constant bitching on this forum over nonsense. I hope this satisfies you guys.
Charnas was an 18-year employee of HP who was sought out and lured away with incentives.
In the future, if you have an objection to a headline, a paragraph, a misplaced comma, the number of words we include in a link, etc, please just mail me at kasper (at) appleinsider (dot) com instead tarnishing our discussion threads. OK?
Thank you and enjoy your weekend, guys,
K
Please, don't try and act like a journalist if you can't take reader criticism. Tarnishing? Who used the B word here? Not me, not him. I may have been flip, but I was civil.
The "unmitigated disaster" thing hasn't been my impression at all. In fact HP has been doing quite well in the market since acquiring Compaq--consistently nipping at Dell's heels and sometimes pulling ahead-- and the Compaq shot in the arm seems to me to be a major reason.
Doesn't HP have a lower market share now than HP + Compaq did combined before the merger?
You mean they didn't boil him in water? Please. Words have more than one meaning. If you can't adjust to that, maybe you need to learn and use some other language. I'm not sure if such a language exists though.
Poaching as regards hunting or business implies something illegal or unethical. There is nothing in the content of Kasper's post (nor in the law.com item - in fact Kasper added the term "lure") that supports anything illegal or unethical on the part of Apple. I was making a play on one of the closer meanings of the word, pointing that out.
Calm down.