Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd is reportedly in talks to join Oracle in a move that may not be all that surprising.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Hurd may join Oracle. The Journal cited people familiar with the matter. Last month, Hurd was pushed out of HP over a sexual harassment probe. Hurd's departure raised questions
about whether the board was just looking for an excuse to push him out. Since Hurd's departure, HP has continued with business as usual---notably outbidding Dell for 3Par.
It's unclear what exactly Hurd would do, but as I noted previously it would make sense to put the former HP chief in charge of Oracle's hardware business and then make him CEO at some later date. In a nutshell, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison would have an instant succession plan.
In many respects, Hurd going to Oracle isn't the surprising. To wit:
Ellison publicly defended Hurd after the HP ouster.
Oracle would have a dream team of managers.
Hurd teach Oracle how to run its hardware business more efficiently.
Ellison and Hurd would love to stick it to IBM as well as HP.
Hurd and Ellison also have a penchant for acquisitions.
Meanwhile, Hurd also knows the data warehousing business. Before Hurd went to HP, he was in charge of NCR, which at the time had Teradata as one of its key units. That experience could come in handy as Oracle seeks to build out its Exadata line.
