It didn’t take long for Mark Hurd to land on his feet.

Just one month after being pushed out of HP for reasons still somewhat unclear, Oracle is hiring Hurd as co-president. (Oracle’s other president is Safra Catz.)

Oracle CEO and founder Larry Ellison is tennis partners with Hurd, and immediately stood up for Hurd after his ouster. Ellison’s strong support for Hurd led Owen Thomas at VentureBeat to speculate Oracle would hire Hurd.

Thomas also said it would be conceivable for Hurd to have CEO-like role at Oracle. While Ellison is likely CEO for life, he also has other interests like sailing which take up his time.

Hurd is taking over for current co-president Charles Phillips. Phillips is stepping down, likely forced out. Phillips is no stranger to scandal. Earlier this year he had a girlfriend buy billboards in Times Square advertising their affair.

Meanwhile, it’s all quiet on the HP front.

Join the conversation about this story »