Walter Hewlett, the son of one of the founders of Hewlett-Packard Co. HWP.N lost his seat on the company's board of directors on Friday after shareholders approved a new slate that deliberately excluded him because of his bid to overturn the merger with Compaq Computer Corp. CPQ.N
The changing of the guard at HP's sparsely attended annual meeting marked the first time in the 63-year history of Hewlett-Packard that no member of the founding families had a seat on the board.
The Hewlett and Packard families -- with about 18 percent of HP stock -- strongly opposed the $18 billion merger that Chief Executive Carly Fiorina championed in a hard-fought and often nasty four-month proxy battle that culminated in a raucous March 19 vote, which HP says it won but which Hewlett is challenging.
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