back to article Larry Ellison comes out fighting against HP Apotheker 'madness'

Oracle boss Larry Ellison was uncharacteristically lost for words, after Hewlett-Packard hired ex SAP CEO Leo Apotheker as its new chief late last week. But the silence didn't last long. “I’m speechless,” he told the Wall Street Journal, before quickly sharpening his tongue and adding that HP had selected a man “who was …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Board? resign? In any UK or US company?

    Division by zero error... does not compute... does not compute... does not compute...

    The company may be run into the ground through incompetence, all assets will be embezzled outright by management, but the company will soldier on none the less with the board awarding themselves more rewards.

    Let's face it, "board resignation" does not happen in todays incestuous corporate world. So much for capitalism being "self regulating" I guess...

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Alert

      But it IS self regulating

      That's the meaning of "running into the ground" innit.

      And if the shareholders are asleep at wheel or are as uninterested in the company as a in a roulette ball - well, what are you gonna do?

      Of course, if it gets real bad, a quick call will ensure a speedy "bailout" because "we are too big to fail" and "the social climate must be saved" and trade unions must be placated or some such stupidity.

  2. jake Silver badge

    Larry, Larry, Larry ...

    Think calm thoughts. It'll do your blood-pressure good.

    All together now ... "Ommmmmmm ..."

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Could it be ...

    ... that Larry is worried by something?

    Surely if Leo is so bad, this is an opportunity for Oracle to grow at HP's expense? Or maybe there was a 'friendly' insider that Larry was pinning his hopes on ...

    Cynical much?

    Paris ... cos she knows all about friendly insiders!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Welcome

    Winding up Crazy Uncle Larry

    Is a pastime of which I heartily approve!

  5. Eduard Coli
    FAIL

    Samurai Larry

    Larry thinks Hurd was better?

    All Hurd knew how to do was have mass layoffs for the folks who did stuff and give huge bonus money for those that did not.

  6. Lars Silver badge
    Pint

    Perhaps

    Apotheker was a good choice, why would Ellison worry otherwise. Not that this is of any bother for me, still it is good if no company gets just too big.

  7. mike panero

    Would you let Larry drive your daughter to school?

    English libel laws prevent me from completing this post

  8. Stevie

    Bah!

    Meanwhile, in unrelated news, Sun/Solaris heavy sites are still madly seeking alternatives to their former favored hardware choice after months of The Silent Treatment followed by Operation: Big Talk by Larry Ellison. Suggestions that Lord Ellison is in a greenhouse/ballistic rock situation were shrugged off by the great man as "groundless".

    I've had to sit through interminable and recrimination-packed meetings on what we'll buy instead of the near end-of-service-life Sun machines we have in our server room and which O/S we'll run on whatever it is once we've bought it, and for that I curse Ellison and all his issue.

    Oracle? Sun? A plague on both their houses! Which are really the same house, so that's a double plague on it (or perhaps two different yet simultaneous plagues; I'm not really sure).

    1. Allison Park
      Stop

      Power to the People

      ibm.com/power

      it has done wonders for our shop and we could care less about the demise of sparc

  9. Tom Samplonius
    Stop

    Board's frequently resign en-masse

    Umm... boards frequently resign en-masse. Especially, in the US. Board members can be sued for breach of fiduciary duty. If you are a public company, the company is expected to maintain a insurance policy for each board member to protect them from lawsuits. I was at a public company, that due to an administrative issue during transfer of the policy to a new company, was planning to operate without a policy for a week. The entire board was going to resign on the spot, because they wouldn't be members for even one day without insurance.

    It is just too easy to start a lawsuit. If the board insurance goes away, or the expected liability of an "issue" exceeds the policy, the entire board is gone.

    BTW, the board is liable if management embezzles the assets. The management too. And it is probably a criminal offense. I'm aware of this happening in any large US public company's. But again, in the US, CEOs and CFOs of public company's can and do go to jail for serious offenses.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The real reason Oracle needed Sun?

    Because when you go to war against the neighbour kids, it's no good if they're throwing large metal objects and all you've got for ammo is a few books and CDs.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like