Sometimes leaving something is hard to do -- and regrets happen later down the road. Tom Perkins, co-founder of the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers left the board of directors at Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ), and is now kicking himself for doing just that. Okay, let's restate that -- he really should not have left. Perkins had a penchant for weathering tough times, but the CEO mess and company results under former HP CEO Carly Fiorina and the corporate spying scandal under former chairperson Patty Dunn was apparently too much for the seasoned businessman.

Perkins left the HP board in a huff -- and he's now saying that he regrets losing his temper and abruptly resigning from the board of the world's largest computer manufacturer. Perkins, who like any mega-personality has an outsized ego to match, did hold his own in a battle of wills with those former members of HP's board (as in, former Chairwoman Patty Dunn). The way Perkins resigned from HP's board was considered by many to be uncharacteristic of the man. Perhaps he was just tired of the company regardless? Hard to tell, really -- but with Perkins' background and track record, HP would be a better place with him seated on the board rather than not. Perkin's legendary background in tech would easily make him a valued member of the current HP board. You know, since it's the largest computer manufacturer in the world and all.

Would Perkins re-join the board of HP? Probably not, since he's now on the board of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and appears to be having too much fun showing off all his toys and coddling his ego. At his age and with his background, that's what would be expected of HIM and rightfully so -- enjoying success needs to happen some time, right? HP is really on the right track under CEO and Chairman Mark Hurd and the company is in better shape than in most of the recent history of the company under Hurd's leadership, which would have matched Perkins' style and if he was still on the board. Problem is -- he won't be coming back. For Hurd -- who is completely different than his CEO predecessor -- he's be happy to have him back.

It's always been a tenet of mine that executive compensation should be tied to company performance. In many ways and in many companies it is. Stock bonuses and related options are generally the favored mechanism to retain good-performing executive talent and it works. At a recent Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) shareholder meeting, one of the shareholder proposals was one tied to executive compensation. Naturally, I was intrigued.

It's a shame individual and institutional shareholders don't have more of a direct voice into how the company that they partially own is run. Yes, it's true that one can't really "know" the company and its situation without being involved day to day -- or is it? So much public information is available on every public company that an informed shareholder is not a hard status to ascend to, right?

One of the recent shareholder proposals -- which was passed even with HP management voting against it -- would measure executive pay in a way that long-term compensation packages involving stock options and hefty bonuses be tied directly to company performance. This was probably seen by many, as the outlandish pay package bestowed on former HP CEO Carly Fiorina after she was booted from the CEO spot caused quite a furor over those who don't agree with the insane golden parachuted given to non-performing executives.

Make no mistake -- like most of the working class and rank-and-file worker, pay should be based on performance as the overriding factor. This is not a government job, you know. This is the private sector, and performance talks (non-performance walks).

The New York Times reports that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) will pay $14.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by the state of California alleging that H-P used unlawful channels to investigate the phone activity of its board members.

As is the case in most of these situations, there will be no finding of liability against Hewlett-Packard. And most of the money ($13.5 million) will be used to establish a fund to be used to investigate media piracy (movies and music) and intellectual-property theft.

Is this a big deal? From a principled standpoint, sure. And investors will be happy to see a sign of greater stability on the board since Carly Fiorina's ouster almost two years ago. Monetarily, though, it's a drop in the bucket. As the article reports, H-P reaped almost $92 billion in revenue in FY06, so the magnitude of the settlement amounts to what the company earns in 83 minutes.