Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says Apple is doomed without Steve Jobs
Never one to hold to the maxim about what to do if you have nothing nice to say, Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison made it clear he thinks Apple is lost without co-founder Steve Jobs.
In an interview to be broadcast Tuesday on “CBS This Morning,” Ellison made his remarks about Jobs and Apple to Charlie Rose.
Ellison and Jobs were close friends. During a lengthy interview outside Ellison’s Silicon Valley home, Rose eventually brings up the subject of the late Jobs and what Ellison believes will happen to Apple.
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“Let’s talk about Steve Jobs,” Rose says, according to a transcript. “What is it about him? You -- we recognize the fact that he loved Apple and he wanted to make Apple great and he did. But what was it about him that enabled him to do it, other than he worked hard?”
Ellison responds: “He was -- he was brilliant. I mean, our Edison. He was our Picasso. He was an incredible inventor.”
Rose then asks: “So what happens to Apple without Steve?”
“Well, we already know,” Ellison says.
“What?” Rose asks.
“We saw -- we conducted the experiment,” Ellison explains, apparently referring to the period in the 1980s and ‘90s when Jobs was not with the company. “I mean, it’s been done.”
“We saw Apple with Steve Jobs,” says Ellison as he arcs his finger high into the air.
“We saw Apple without Steve Jobs,” Ellison continues, lowering the finger.
“We saw Apple with Steve Jobs,” he says, raising the finger again.
“Now, we’re gonna see Apple without Steve Jobs,” he says, keeping the finger in the air for a few beats before dropping it again.
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