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.
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
(View all)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.
This time, Jobs trusted most (if not all) the people on the exec team.
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.
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