Former H.P. Chief May Move to Oracle

Mark V. Hurd, who was forced to resign as Hewlett-Packard’s top executive last month after an investigation into a sexual harassment charge found that he had manipulated his expenses, is in talks with Oracle about a top executive position there, according a person briefed on the matter.

Mr. Hurd, who is close to Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle’s founder and chief executive, was not expected to replace him, though it was uncertain what any role at Oracle might be. Mr. Hurd and Oracle are close to reaching an agreement, but no deal has been completed, said the person briefed on the talks, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were supposed to remain confidential.

Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Mr. Hurd declined to comment.

For Mr. Hurd, 53, landing a top role at Oracle would be a quick rebound after his tumultuous exit from H.P. in early August. Mr. Hurd was forced out by the board after he settled charges of sexual harassment brought by Jodie Fisher, a 50-year-old actress who worked as a marketing consultant for the company.

Both Mr. Hurd and Ms. Fisher denied having a sexual relationship, and an H.P. investigation failed to find any evidence of sexual misconduct by Mr. Hurd.

But the company has said that Mr. Hurd’s resignation was a result of a break in trust caused by his falsifying expense reports possibly to conceal the relationship.

Shortly after Mr. Hurd was forced out, Mr. Ellison made an unusual and passionate defense of him. In an e-mail to The New York Times, Mr. Ellison called the H.P. board’s action “the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago.”

The talks between Mr. Hurd and Oracle were first reported on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

Oracle, which Mr. Ellison founded 30 years ago, is the world’s largest database software maker; Mr. Ellison has been its only chief executive. For years, the company has been a close partner with H.P., which sells computing systems and services to corporations. But since Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems, in a deal that closed early this year, Oracle and H.P. have become competitors in the market for computer hardware.

The purchase of Sun caught a number of Oracle’s investors off guard, since the company had avoided the hardware market in the past.

At H.P., Mr. Hurd helped steer mammoth computer server, storage and services businesses. Such expertise could come in handy as Oracle continues to try to digest Sun. In particular, Mr. Hurd built a reputation as a cost-cutting whiz and could apply those skills to bringing the Sun business in line.

Sun also has a number of large campuses and an extensive research and development operation. At H.P., Mr. Hurd pared back such expenses.

While running the company, Mr. Hurd passed on trying to acquire Sun, leaving Oracle and I.B.M. to bid for it.

Mr. Ellison remains heavily involved in Oracle, but the day-to-day operations are largely overseen by two presidents, Safra A. Catz and Charles E. Phillips Jr. It was unclear how Mr. Hurd would fit into the existing, crowded triumvirate.

Mr. Hurd took over the top job at H.P. in 2005, succeeding Carly Fiorina, who had been unable to increase profitability after the company’s $19 billion acquisition of Compaq in 2002.

His tenure was widely seen as a success. Mr. Hurd brought tight fiscal discipline to the computer giant and turned it into one of the most reliable performers in the technology sector. During his tenure, H.P. surpassed I.B.M. as the No. 1 technology company, as revenue increased to $115 billion a year, from $80 billion.