Ellison slams HP over Hurd

High-flying Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has slammed the Hewlett-Packard (HP) board over its decision to oust CEO Mark Hurd, equating it with the lunacy that Apple's board was suffering when it removed Steve Jobs.

HP's CEO of five years - credited with turning the company's fortunes around - stepped down Friday after a company investigation into claims he had sexually harassed a former contractor Jodie Fisher revealed he had falsified expense reports.

"The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago," Ellison wrote in an email to the New York Times.

"That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them."

Ellison said that HP had not acted in the interest of employees, shareholders, customer and partners, pointing out that their investigation found the sexual harassment claims to be "utterly false".

Oracle has had its share of boardroom soap dramas. Earlier this year, Oracle President Charles Phillips was forced to admit to an extra-marital affair with his mistress of more than eight years, YaVaughnie Wilkins, after an image of the two appeared on billboards across New York, San Francisco and Atlanta with the quote "You are my soulmate".