The author of an influential report that helped win narrow stockholder support for Hewlett-Packard Co."s $18.7 billion merger with Compaq Computer has resigned after admitting lying about graduating from law school, his ex-employer said on Friday.
Shareholder advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services, however, said it still stands by that report, which supported the contentious combination.
Ram Kumar, 33, the report"s author, had told Rockville, Maryland-based ISS, which advises shareholders on corporate voting issues such as the HP merger, that he graduated from the University of Southern California law school.
But about two hours after his employers read an article in SmartMoney Magazine saying that he had dropped out without graduating, Kumar, a 4-year veteran at ISS and senior analyst, was out of a job, spokesman Pat McGurn said.
Kumar could not immediately be reached for comment.