 On September 30, 2010, the Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard announced the election of Apotheker as the company's Chief Executive Officer and President, effective November 1.He succeeded Cathie Lesjak, who served as the company's interim CEO since August 6, following the abrupt departure of former CEO Mark Hurd.Hurd had been forced to resign after an internal investigation into a sexual harassment claim (that found him not guilty) uncovered expense-account irregularities.