Going by a recent report in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the last-month ousted Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Mark Hurd is in negotiations with the US software bigwig Oracle Corp. for his appointment as a top executive.

The 53-year-old Hurd, who departed from HP on August 6 after an alleged involvement in a sex scandal connected to HP contractor Jodie Fisher, happens to be a longtime friend of the Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison, who had openly criticized HP’s ouster of Hurd, calling the move “the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago.”

As per the WSJ report, though there has been no disclosure about the post that Hurd is being considered for at Oracle, it is certain that Ellison will continue to be the company’s CEO as well as its biggest shareholder. Ellison already has to presidents working under him - Safra Catz and Charles Phillips.

According to reports, Hurd - widely known for being a skillful, hands-on manager capable of running highly efficient operations - has received a number of job offers from public companies and private equity firms, ever since his departure from HP.

In case Hurd joins Oracle, he is sure to bring to the table knowledge of running a company which manufactures industrial-grade computers on which Oracle’s business software runs.