When Mark Hurd was forced to resign as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard last month in the wake of fudged expense reports, the first person to come to his defense was Larry Ellison, the founder and CEO of Oracle, an HP partner and competitor. In an email to The New York Times , Ellison lambasted the HP board’s judgment, calling the move “the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago.” After all, Hurd — who took over HP in 2005 after the tumultuous reign of Carleton S. Fiorina — presided over a company that by most accounts was performing extraordinarily well. Revenue last year was $115 billion, up 44% from five years ago. On Hurd’s watch, HP averaged annual 18% profit increases — impressive given the firm’s massive size. And during his tenure, the company’s stock price more than doubled, from $19 to $45.…