Larry Ellison Hints at Bleak Future For Apple Without Steve Jobs - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Larry Ellison Hints at Bleak Future For Apple Without Steve Jobs

by

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who was a close friend of Steve Jobs, hinted that Apple may have a bleak future without Jobs in an interview with CBS News' Charlie Rose (via AllThingsD) where he was asked how he thought the company would do without its co-founder.

"Well, we already know," Ellison told Rose. "We saw — we conducted the experiment. I mean, it's been done. We saw Apple with Steve Jobs. We saw Apple without Steve Jobs. We saw Apple with Steve Jobs. Now, we're gonna see Apple without Steve Jobs."

Ellison seems to be referring to when Jobs was ousted by the Apple board in 1985, causing the company to struggle. Jobs returned in 1997 and rebuilt the company, streamlining product lines and introducing successful new offerings like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

YouTube video via The Verge

In addition to being friends with Jobs, Larry Ellison was an Apple Director until he stepped down from the board in 2002, affording him a look at the inner workings of Apple. He also publicly hinted at buying the company when it was struggling in 1997.

The full interview is set to appear on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday morning.

Top Rated Comments

haruhiko Avatar
haruhiko
165 months ago
Yup it's happening. Just look at the state of iOS 7 and the cheap plastic rumoured iPhones. Steve Jobs would have never allowed this.

Steve Jobs released cheap plastic iPods, cheap plastic MacBooks.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
griffd
165 months ago
Larry Ellison is a clueless arrogant prick. That is the number 1 reason i left Oracle - i was sick of making him rich while our bonuses were cut every year. Take his prediction with a grain of salt. He is clueless. I don't know what Steve saw in him. I think he just liked competing with him.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
collinmac
165 months ago
Funny, Ellison steps down from the board in 2002, right around the time that Apple's second coming started in earnest.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vanilla35 Avatar
Vanilla35
165 months ago
Unfortunately it's true. It's not just Steve's impact, but the entire concept of drive for the company. Everything they do is so interdependent on their overall theme of delivering a good product, while using the bare minimum hardware. That's such a delicate method, that if they fail to do that correctly, they will lose all hope. And of course Jony Ive taking over iOS and sh***ing all over the design doesn't help things. He got rid of what everyone loved about iOS, and now even though it looks more modern, it is a cluster fk of white, and the device is harder to use, and takes more time. It's not just getting used to things, it just isn't as intuitive. You can't even tell what half of the icons are while in apps anymore because they're just blank icons with white outlines.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
impulse462 Avatar
impulse462
165 months ago
Completely different situation. Back then the people who fired Jobs hated his guts.

This time, Jobs trusted most (if not all) the people on the exec team.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
JAT
165 months ago
Cue the Apple fans in denial. :p

Thank you! I completely agree and it seems that nobody around here can this through their heads.

Completely agree, people around here are like "Tim's just as good!" And then there they're like "Why the hell is the stock value going down? Apple's doing just fine!" They can't accept the fact that Apple isn't the same.
You may not know this, but both membership and visitation to this site is 100% voluntary.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
Read Full Article
HomePod mini and Apple TV Sage

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Sunday March 22, 2026 6:33 am PDT by
Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other...
Read Full Article • 135 comments
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
Read Full Article • 40 comments