Larry Ellison may buy Apple

This comes from the "it just gets weirder every day" department. Only onemonth after a Fortune article where he promised to buy Apple if Steve Jobsagreed to run it, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told the San Jose Mercury Newstoday that he might get an investment group together and actually buy the besieged company anyway. He will decide over the next few weeks whether he will actually go ahead with these plans: if Apple's major investors go for it, Ellison will try and buy the company.

Ellison is a good friend with Steve Jobs, who voiced displeasure at Ellison's earlier outburst about buying Apple. Ellison now maintains thatthe new Apple would not necessarily be run by Jobs but that he and Jobswould sit on the board of directors together. He also mentioned that anytakeover would be a private endeavor and would not involve Oracle.

Were Ellison able to take control of Apple, he would immediately firecurrent CEO Gil Amelio and the rest of the executive staff. Somewhathumorously, Apple stock inched up $1.00 when news of the possible takeover was announced. In a way, the Ellison/Apple match up could be justwhat the company needs: Ellison is perhaps the most anti-Microsoft personon the planet.

Gil Amelio termed the possibility of billionaire Ellison buying thecompany "rubbish" and said that Steve Jobs has assured him that he isnot interested in running Apple. "We're not entertaining any bids [forthe company]," he said