Larry Ellison Compares HP CEO's Forced Resignation to Jobs' Ouster at Apple
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 from investors 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 was less well-liked by HP employees, who disapproved of his cost-cutting and job-cutting moves even as his own compensation package soared.
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.
Popular Stories
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
Apple today added a "Why Upgrade" section to its website, which is aimed at encouraging customers with older iPhones to upgrade to a newer model. The website allows customers to compare the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max. Each comparison shows what new features someone with an older...