PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Oracle chief Larry Ellison has sparked a new row with Hewlett-Packard after he emailed a newspaper criticising its choice of CEO.
HP last week appointed ex-SAP boss Leo Apotheker as its new chief exec and president, following the departure of Mark Hurd in August.
Ellison, who last month slammed HP for filing a “vindictive” lawsuit against his firm, wrote to the Wall Street Journal: “I’m speechless… HP had several good internal candidates… but instead they pick a guy who was recently fired because he did such a bad job of running SAP.”
But it seems the Oracle CEO is not alone in his opinion. HP shares plummeted following the announcement of Apotheker’s appointment.
In his email, the Oracle boss also called on HP’s board to “resign en masse”, adding: “the madness must stop”.
An HP spokesperson told the WSJ that Ellison’s comments did not “deserve the dignity of a response”.
The two firms recently settled a lawsuit that HP filed after Oracle hired Mark Hurd as its president, following his resignation amid claims he had an affair with a colleague. Ellison had initially described the legal action as “vindictive”.
