iClarified:

Larry Ellison, co-founder, chairman and CTO of Oracle, recently gave the Commencement Speech at USC. In his speech, Ellison recounts forming a plan to save Apple with his best friend, Steve Jobs.

And:

“My idea was simple, buy Apple, and immediately make Steve CEO. Apple wasn’t worth much back then, about $5 billion dollars. We both had really good credit and I had already arranged to borrow all of the money. All Steve had to do was say yes.

“Steve proposed a somewhat more circuitous approach. First, persuade Apple to buy NeXT computer, then Steve would join Apple’s board and over time the board would recognize that Steve was the right guy to lead the company.

Fantastic post. [Via iOS Dev Weekly]