As we went to press last night, Oracle Corp chief executive Larry Ellison announced that he was not, after all looking to acquire Apple Computer Corp, nor is he looking to buy any of the stock, or in discussions with any Apple shareholders or even potential investors. Nobody at Oracle could tell us what happened to Ellison’s gang of investors, or whether he really had enough interested parties (CI No 3,130). Ellison said he remains interested in developments at the ailing company, and he may buy stock or attempt to take over Apple some time in the future. He had had plans to take over and remake Apple as a network computer vendor, while also retaining the Big Macs, as he put it recently. His plans included the firing of the entire Apple board and senior managers if he won control. He also encountered a lot of hostility from the quasi-religious Apple community, depsite having used a Mac himself since 1984 (CI No 3,148). He abandoned a similar plan two years ago.
