The latest buzz around Oracle and Hewlett Packard has been a changing of the guards, so to speak, as HP ousted Mark Hurd after sexual harassment allegations surfaced.

One month later, Oracle (News - Alert) welcomed Hurd as its new co-president.

One day later, HP filed a lawsuit against Hurd trying to stop him from taking the Oracle position.

Despite the ensuing legal battle, Oracle appears ready to move forward with its management plans.

A CNBC report shows Oracle plans to compensate Hurd with a base salary of $950,000 per year. Hurd will also be eligible for a fiscal 2011 bonus of as much as $10 million.

The details of Hurd’s compensation package were released by Oracle in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And, while the salary and bonus are both impression, neither compares to the 10 million in stock options Oracle plans to share with Hurd.

The options given to Hurd will carry an exercise price equal to the market value of shares on the date they were granted. Oracle shares closed Wednesday at $24.26, valuing the 10 million shares at $242.6 million. If Hurd remains with the company, he will be given the option to purchase another 5 million shares each year for the next five years. Of course, all of this coming to fruition may be complicated with the pending lawsuit. HP is worried Hurd will use his HP knowledge while in his position at Oracle, actually arguing in the lawsuit that it is impossible for him to do his job without divulging information.

As Oracle has emerged HP’s largest competitor with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems (News - Alert), it’s no wonder this move makes the company nervous.Hurd does have a non-compete agreement with HP, but Oracle presents the primary threat to HP dominance. Is the legal battle worth it for Oracle and Hurd?

If he is allowed to take the position at Oracle, anything that emerges from its R&D department that even smells like something out of HP is sure to bring legal action.

This is a hurry up and wait type situation, but the ensuing drama is bound to be fun to watch.

(source: http://it.tmcnet.com/topics/it/articles/100362-oracle-releases-hurds-compensation-package.htm)