Larry Ellison Compares HP CEO's Forced Resignation to Jobs' Ouster at Apple

[MacRumors]

The New York Times reports on the recent forced resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd following claims of sexual harassment and improper expense reports, quoting Oracle CEO Larry Ellison as comparing Hurd's ouster to that of Steve Jobs' departure from Apple in 1985.

"The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago," Mr. Ellison wrote. "That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them."

Hurd had received strong reviews over his five-year tenure as HP's CEO, where he led the company past Dell to become the world's largest computer vendor and boosted company performance in a number of areas.

Hurd's departure came after a relationship between Hurd and company contractor Jodie Fisher failed to pan out, resulting in allegations of sexual harassment by Fisher. In investigating the situation, HP's board discovered irregularities in Hurd's expense reports related to Fisher's work with the company. Taking the advice of a public relations firm, HP disclosed the full details of the situation and reached an agreement for Hurd's resignation, for which he is expected to receive up to $50 million in severance.

While the circumstances of Hurd's departure are significantly different from those of Jobs' ouster, which was the result of an internal power struggle with CEO John Sculley, Ellison's argument compares Hurd's performance and leadership ability to that of Jobs by noting the similarity in talented leaders being chased away from their companies for reasons that could be considered unwarranted.

Following Jobs' departure, Apple struggled as Microsoft-powered PCs dominated the late 1980s and 1990s. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 with the company's acquisition of NeXT, which had been started by Jobs after he left Apple. Then-CEO Gil Amelio was ousted by the Apple Board of Directors a few months after the NeXT acquisition, and Jobs was installed as interim CEO, eventually dropping the "interim" title.

Article Link: Larry Ellison Compares HP CEO's Forced Resignation to Jobs' Ouster at Apple

[millertime021]

$50 mil? If that was me, I couldn't care less what happened to the company after I left. I'd be living the good life.

[PBG4 Dude]

Originally Posted by millertime021

$50 mil? If that was me, I couldn't care less what happened to the company after I left. I'd be living the good life.

No kidding. Getting paid $50 mil for screwing an ex-TV star? Where do I sign up?

[TSE]

Hurd did a good job as HP's CEO, there is no doubt about it. He did a lot of good things for the company. Not sure if HP is going to crumble without him, but right now they are sitting pretty good in the PC industry.

[AAPLaday]

Look how smart Steve looked back when he used to make an effort

[hexor]

Ellison is an idiot. Like any experience in your life it shapes who you are and without Steve being kicked out he wouldn't be who he is today.. and there never would have been a NeXT company to buy!

[avanpelt]

I read the headline and I thought Jobs was thrown out (again.) Must be a slow news day. . .

[imwoblin]

I think Ellison is off base here.. Steve was the visionary of Apple Computer whereas Hurd was a professional CEO. In my next life I'm coming back as a Professional CEO. Hurd is hired to create a professional atmosphere at HP and he goes out and falls on his sword. The old adage of "Do what I say, not as I do" comes to mind here. These professional CEO's write their own contract with a clause that does not allow them to be fired unless they commit a felony, and walk away with a huge golden parachute (40 million in stock and cash). Now its on to the next corporation to be pillaged. If you or me committed fraud towards our employer, we would be booted out the door with a lawsuit pending. This guy does it and is rewarded. Capitalism at it's finest!

[BornAgainMac]

I noticed in CNET, they discussed one of Larry's presidents that would be a possible match for the new President of HP. That is probably one of the reasons for Larry's message.

[Major Reeves]

Originally Posted by hexor

Ellison is an idiot. Like any experience in your life it shapes who you are and without Steve being kicked out he wouldn't be who he is today.. and there never would have been a NeXT company to buy!

I definitely agree with you on that.

[The Wedge]

Originally Posted by AAPLaday

Look how smart Steve looked back when he used to make an effort

"We're Apple, we don't wear suits. We don't even own suits!"

I'm sure this suit would be a little baggy on Steve now...

[Master Chief]

Okay. Let's do something weird here. Papermaster is out and Hurd joins Apple to replace him, or maybe as future CEO. At least then Steve can step down and make room for new. Wait. His son is the new Apple CEO. Darn.

[ictiosapiens]

Originally Posted by imwoblin

I think Ellison is off base here.. Steve was the visionary of Apple Computer whereas Hurd was a professional CEO. In my next life I'm coming back as a Professional CEO. Hurd is hired to create a professional atmosphere at HP and he goes out and falls on his sword. The old adage of "Do what I say, not as I do" comes to mind here. These professional CEO's write their own contract with a clause that does not allow them to be fired unless they commit a felony, and walk away with a huge golden parachute (40 million in stock and cash). Now its on to the next corporation to be pillaged. If you or me committed fraud towards our employer, we would be booted out the door with a lawsuit pending. This guy does it and is rewarded. Capitalism at it's finest!

Agreed, the last thing on Hurd's mind at the moment is starting up a company, or creating, well, anything... He's off to some other firm to do some cost-cutting and other "necessary" restructuring...

Hurd=Bureaucrat/manager/can't keep it in his pants, Jobs=Entrepreneur/visionary/manager/wanker

[paul4339]

I'm sure it won't be hard for him to find a job. Sanjay Jha from Motorola got paid $103 million a few years ago... and Motorola doesn't seem to be doing so well. Ditch Sanjay, hire Hurd.

P.

[Apple Corps]

Originally Posted by Master Chief

Okay. Let's do something weird here. Papermaster is out and Hurd joins Apple to replace him, or maybe as future CEO. At least then Steve can step down and make room for new. Wait. His son is the new Apple CEO. Darn.

Was that supposed to be some sort of a witty statement or what

[firewood]

Methinks the real crime is these multimillion dollar CEO salaries and bonuses. If you let them get away with that already, forging a few $10k charges to the expense account for deniable boinking or whatever shouldn't even be newsworthy. Hire them an accounting assistant who can hide their playtime expenses better, and then cut their pay/bonus by a few $10M's; that would be better, especially if they aren't running the company into the ground while playing around, like they did on Wall Street.

[severe]

Rich white guy problems.

[kernkraft]

Surely, HP must be doing better than Apple did at the time. Jobs was blamed with almost destroying Apple Inc back then. HP's CEO had an ugly sexual harassment case that was settled out of court.

[bigrob66]

Originally Posted by hexor

... Like any experience in your life it shapes who you are and without Steve being kicked out he wouldn't be who he is today.. and there never would have been a NeXT company to buy!

Excellent observation!

[lostngone]

That may be true however, Mark Hurd is definitely no Steve Jobs.

Come on Mark Hurd is a dime-o-dozen CEO and to compare the two is a joke.

All Hail Steve Jobs!

[pooryou]

Larry Ellison needs to get a grip.

Comparing this guy to Jobs (and HP to Apple for that matter) is just a load of nonsense. Not in the same league.

I have no opinion on whether the guy should have left HP or not, just talking about the bad comparison.

[Full of Win]

Political Correctness run amok. HP will get what they deserve.

[PygmySurfer]

As a former HP employee, I think I can safely say Crazy Larry is way off base here. Hurd did nothing but buy up companies, and cut jobs.

I'm sure Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard have been spinning in their graves the past few years, seeing what has become of this once great company.

[Ubele]

Originally Posted by lostngone

That may be true however, Mark Hurd is definitely no Steve Jobs.

Come on Mark Hurd is a dime-o-dozen CEO and to compare the two is a joke.

Actually, Mark Hurd is a little more expensive than that. By my calculation, he's more of a $600-million-a-dozen CEO. I would be a dime-a-dozen CEO, except that I'm not a CEO. Sigh...

[KirkL]

Originally Posted by AAPLaday

Look how smart Steve looked back when he used to make an effort

He's also significantly older now and you know...battled Cancer.