In what appears to be the beginning of a hostile takeover of Apple Computer Inc. [NASDAQ:AAPL], Larry Ellison, billionaire and chief executive officer at Oracle Corp. [NASDAQ:ORCL] has issued an open letter to Apple employees, customers, and shareholders, the media, and the computer industry at large. If you have any response to his potential acquisition of the famous hardware and software company now is the time to reply.

With his name historically tied to Oracle, Ellison is creating a clear separation from Oracle and his intentions to head a takeover of Apple. An independent, unnamed investment group has already been formed. Working with a high-tech public relations specialist, Applied Communications Corp., the group created the "open letter" in response to Ellison's publicized ambition to acquire Apple.

The brief press release asks three questions: "Which of the following best describes you? Apple employee, Apple customer, Apple shareholder, Apple reseller, Apple software developer, independent or institutional investor, member of the computer industry, other (please respond in three words). Can Apple benefit from new management? Yes (explanation optional), No (explanation optional). Presuming the successful acquisition of Apple by the Ellison investor group, what do you believe should be its single top priority?" In a fourth point, other comments are welcomed.

Exactly who is involved with the new investor group is guarded information. "No one is going to say anything about who is meeting with who or where right now," said Burkhart Hendrick of Applied Communications Corp., a spokesman for the investor group. And how has Ellison responded to what as been a media explosion in the past 24 hours? "No one from here has seen him. But I can tell you most of the preliminary responses we hear from analysts and the media are positive and encouraging."

If you have anything to say to Ellison and his investor group, address your comments in an electronic message to savapple@us.oracle.com .

Apple Computer plans to announce quarterly results on April 16 at the close of market. The question at this time is how big a loss will Apple record. Ellison and his unnamed investor group will closely watch the financials revealed by the famous computer-maker.

Source: Newsbytes