Former HP CEO joins Oracle

The rumours are true – Mark Hurd, former HP chief executive, has accepted the position of Oracle’s co-president. Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO, described HP’s dismissal of his close friend as ‘cowardly,’ now Ellison must be having the last laugh. Hurd will be working alongside Safra Catz, and replacing Charles Phillips.

Ellison issued a statement saying, ‘Mark did a brilliant job at HP and I expect he’ll do an even better one at Oracle. There is no executive in the IT world with more relevant experience than Mark.’

Hurd and Ellison make a rather formidable force, and Hurd is proven to not be shy in going forward. He has already spoken of Oracle’s ability to beat IBM, ‘in both enterprise servers and storage.’

Hurd has always denied the inaccurate expense claims he was accused of whilst at HP, and his relationship with Jodie Fisher, the events contractor. Up until the internal investigation Hurd had been praised for his work – investors had confidence in him. Confidence in HP appears to have faltered; now he is gone– shares are down by 13%.

Whilst at HP, Hurd was known for his cost-cutting and strategic acquisitions – perfect for Oracle, which as a company are aggressive on these very topics. Hurd will be announcing his plans with Oracle at Oracle OpenWorld In San Francisco on 19th September. If you want to see and hear Hurd’s opening gambit - you know where you need to be.