He Said, She Said and–Could This Get Any Better?–Larry Ellison Said
BoomTown hereby bestows upon the New York Times’ Ashlee Vance the award for getting the best quote ever out of the most ironically perfect source ever and, best of all, on the record.
As in, I wish I had thought of it.
To wit, from an email written by Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison, on the ouster of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd, sent to the Times:
“The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn’t come back and saved them.”
Way to inexplicably link the HP mess with Apple (AAPL)!
“What the expense fraud claims do reveal is an H.P. board desperately grasping at straws in trying to publicly explain the unexplainable: how a false sexual harassment claim and some petty expense report errors led to the loss of one of Silicon Valley’s best and most respected leaders.”
To be fair, Ellison’s note added some interesting and new information about the imbroglio, although the account was entirely according to him (and presumably via Hurd’s side).
What does Ellison have to do with this, other than the fact that he is a sometime partner and sometime rival to HP and a tennis buddy of Hurd’s: Nothing.
What’s the payoff from hearing the tough-talking opinions of the one tech company CEO who is well known for his high-flying lifestyle: Priceless.
(And don’t miss the insignia on Larry’s polo shirt in the above image!)
