Quote of the day: Ellison pokes at 'sappy' rival

Oracle may have closed its buy of PeopleSoft, but CEO Larry Ellison hasn't ceased taking jabs at his company's rivals.

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Jennifer Guevin

March 10, 2005 5:24 p.m. PT

Oracle may have closed its strategic acquisition of PeopleSoft in January, but Chief Executive Larry Ellison hasn't ceased taking jabs at his company's rivals. According to a recent BusinessWeek interview with Oracle President Charles Phillips, the often-controversial CEO has taken to calling rival software maker SAP "sap."

Q: I noticed yesterday that Larry Ellison repeatedly called SAP "sap" in the conference call.
Phillips: Very perceptive.

Q: Was that intentional?
Phillips: Yes.

Q: Why so?
Phillips: He likes calling them "sap."

Q: I never really heard that from him before.
Phillips: You'll hear more. It sounds better, at least from our perspective.

Q: It's diminutive.
Phillips: Right.

While Oracle may hope to see its rivals shrink in size, it is taking active steps to grow itself. Ellison announced on Tuesday that Oracle hopes to acquire Minneapolis-based Retek at $9 a share--just over a week after SAP made its own offer of $8.50 a share for the retail software maker.