A daily digest of IT news, curated from blogs, forums and news sites around the web each morning. We highlight the key commentary and demystify the real story.
The sex-scandal-battered ex-CEO of HP, Mark Hurd, has re-emerged as a board director and 'co-president' of Oracle. One month on, his good old buddy Larry Ellison has found him the perfect job: replacing another sex-scandal-battered executive, Charles Phillips. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers return to their previous prurient jokes about the 'actress' Jodie Fisher.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention the Black Tie Beach backstory...
(ORCL) (HPQ)
Andrew Ross Sorkin offers some salient facts:
Late on Monday, Oracle announced that ... Mark V. Hurd, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard ... had joined the company as a president and a director. ... Hurd resigned from H.P. one month ago, after an investigation by the board into a personal relationship with a contractor turned up questionable expense reports.
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Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracles chief executive and largest shareholder ... a personal friend of Mr. Hurds ... [said] Oracle intends to capitalize on H.P.s mistake. ... Mark did a brilliant job at H.P., and I expect hell do even better at Oracle.
John Paczkowski pokes fun:
Talk about quick rebounds. ... Ending a long weekends worth of speculation, Oracle ... said Hurd will serve as co-president alongside Safra Catz, taking up a role vacated by current president and fellow scandal cultivator Charles Phillips whos evidently resigned.
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Hurds knowledge of HPs server and data storage-systems business will undoubtedly come in handy at Oracle which has been aggressively moving into that very space. ... Who better to put the screws to a rival than a former CEO with a bone to pick?
Charles who? Allow Max Read to refresh your memory:
You might already remember Charles Phillips. The Oracle co-president appeared, along with a woman named YaVaughnie Wilkins, on a series of billboards ... in early 2010. ... "'You are my soulmate forever' - cep," the campaign redundantly declared.
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Wilkins was a former mistress of the married Phillips, and the billboards were apparently her *****-you "gift." Phillips quickly lost his wife, and his position on the Morgan Stanley board.
No stranger to scandal himself, Henry Blodget blogs thuswise:
Chuck Phillips, Oracle's current "co-president" will leave the company. (Translation: He got fired to make room for Hurd.) ... Chuck oversaw sales, which will now presumably be Hurd's domain.
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Remember that please-take-me-back-Chuck billboard stunt that Chuck's ex-girlfriend pulled last year? It cost him the CEO-ship of CA, Inc., which he was then in the running for.
Meanwhile, Vinnie Mirchandani gets personal:
I am sorry to see Charles go. Oracle customers have lost one of their biggest champions. ... That's another challenge Mark will have to step in and meet.
But Eve Tahmincioglu sounds bitter:
Job applicants with a ... negative financial background ... crummy criminal background, or ... salacious sexual background ... are going to find it hard to find a job. Unless you're a CEO.
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Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is tennis buddies with Hurd. Probably all you need today to get a sweet job in Corporate America. ... The next sexual harassment and ethics training sessions at Oracle should be interesting.
Richi Jenningsis an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.
