Oracle chief Ellison defends HP pal Hurd

Larry Ellison calls the HP board's decision to oust Mark Hurd one of the worst personnel decisions "since Apple fired Jobs"

Larry Ellison: Worst personnel decision since Apple fired Jobs

Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison has rushed to the defence of ousted HP head Mark Hurd.

Hurd stepped down last week after allegations of sexual harassment emerged over an HP contractor called Jodie Fisher.

It emerged that Hurd had actually settled the matter privately with the soft porn actress, who yesterday released a statement saying she "didn't mean" him to lose his job.

In an email to the New York Times, Ellison, who is a personal friend of Hurd, said: “The HP board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn’t come back and saved them.”

He continued: “In losing Mark Hurd, the HP board failed to act in the best interest of HP’s employees, shareholders, customers and partners. The HP board admits that it fully investigated the sexual harassment claims against Mark and found them to be utterly false.”

HP is still searching for a replacement chief executive with chief finiancial officer Cathie Lesjak acting as interim head in the meantime.