What's the Truth about Walter Hewlett?

Last Labor Day weekend, Walter B. Hewlett almost resigned from the board of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP ) The eldest son of HP co-founder William R. Hewlett was at a vacation home in the Sierra Nevada mountains, wrestling with how to cast his vote the following Monday on HP's proposed purchase of Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ )

He hated the deal. But he had been told it would be completed with or without his vote, and he worried that a protest vote would allow Compaq to demand a higher price from HP. "I agonized all weekend," Hewlett says. "I could vote yes, vote no, or I could resign--and resigning meant I wouldn't have to vote against my convictions. But I've been involved with this company in some way for 50 years, and I felt it was important for me to stay involved. The employees couldn't resign from their jobs so I wasn't going to abandon my duties."