Ellison to Self: Damn, Damn. I Knew I Should Have Said $4.5 Billion
Whatever damages Oracle is awarded in its suit against SAP, they’ll be $500 million lighter, thanks to an order by the judge presiding over the case. Judge Phyllis Hamilton has prevented Oracle from including in its damages estimates any potential lost profits from products it might have sold to customers it lost because of the SAP-TomorrowNow debacle.
So when Oracle’s damage expert, Paul Meyer, offered his estimate of what SAP should pay Oracle it ended up being $1.66 billion, which is obviously a substantial sum, but less than the one Oracle has been seeking and significantly less than the $4 billion figure Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was tossing around on Monday.
Good news for SAP–particularly after yesterday–and one that the company hopes is the beginning of a trend. “The ruling of the Court has an immediate and demonstrable impact on Oracle’s damages presentation, reducing the total by $500 million, from $2.2 billion down to $1.6 billion,” an SAP spokesperson told me. “This is the second such reduction by the Court and we are confident that, when the jury hears our case presentation, the outcome of the case will reflect the actual damages the limited actions of TommorowNow had upon Oracle.”
Oracle declined to comment on the matter.
PREVIOUSLY:
- SAP Attorney: Board Knew TomorrowNow Was Infringing at Time of Acquisition
- Oracle Co-President on SAP’s Damages Offer: “It’s Crazy”
- Oracle Enlists Process Servers, Not PIs, to Find HP CEO
- Oracle-SAP Trial: Ellison Swaps Katana for Poison Darts
- Objection: Mr. Ellison Is Referring to the Defendant as “Choleric of Temper” Again
- Oracle Lands Early Shots in SAP Trial
- Your Honor, We Object to Mr. Ellison’s Repeated Use of the Term “Slimy Weasels”
- Oracle to HP CEO: Chicken!
- Oracle Vs. SAP: We Got a Right to Pick a Little Fight–Bonanza!
- SAP’s Tab in Oracle Case: $120 Million and Counting
- Gag Order Denied in Oracle, SAP Trial
- Ellison Taunts HP CEO a Second Time
- SAP to Ellison: Save the Drama for Your Mama
- Ellison to HP CEO: “Warrior, Come Out to Plaaeeay!
- SAP: Please Gag Oracle
- HP Scandal Sucks in New York Times Columnist Over Conflict of Interest
- Welch to HP Board: You Don’t Know Jack!
- Insiders Criticize Ellison For HP CEO Slam
- Was Apotheker HP’s First Choice of CEO?
- HP Names Ex-SAP Chief Apotheker as CEO