Oracle Jealous Of The Publicity HP Received Over The Mark Hurd Scandal

Most companies looked at the Mark Hurd scandal with distaste, but one company watching saw something great. After the weekend’s rumors, Oracle has hired disgraced HP CEO Mark Hurd. Hurd, coincidentally a good friend of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will fill the co-president position formerly occupied by Charles Phillips, who himself is now looking for an industry crony willing to hire him. HP shares have dropped 13% amid the scandal. Hurd allegedly filed inaccurate expense reports which may have indicated that Hurd was in a close personal relationship with Jodie Fisher, a marketing contractor at HP for two years. Oracle may be hoping that Hurd can bring about the kind of change at Oracle that he was largely responsible for at HP. As a relatively unknown executive, Hurd reshaped the company by cutting costs and raising profits. Larry Ellison publicly defended Hurd at the time of his ousting, comparing HP’s decision to the now famous Apple board’s decision to fire Steve Jobs. Having spent nearly $40 billion in acquisitions since 2004, including the Sun deal last year, Oracle is keen to see some return for their investment. Despite the scandal, Hurd is still seen as a great candidate to spearhead that resurgence.