70 year old Larry Ellison is stepping down as the CEO of Oracle. He founded Oracle to be one of America’s largest and most prominent technology companies. The Oracle board also named Mark Hurd, 57, and Safra Catz, 52, as Co-CEOs to replace him. Jeff Henley, who has served as Oracle’s Chairman for the last 10 years, was appointed Oracle’s Vice Chairman of the Board.
The world’s fifth richest person with $51.3 billion will still be the chairman of Oracle’s board and the software company’s chief technology officer. Catz, also currently chief financial officer, will oversee manufacturing, finance, and legal functions, while Hurd will oversee sales, service and vertical industry global business units.
“Safra and Mark will now report to the Oracle Board rather than to me,” said Larry Ellison. “All the other reporting relationships will remain unchanged. The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine.”
“Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy,” said the Oracle Board’s Presiding Director, Dr. Michael Boskin. “Safra and Mark are exceptional executives who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to lead, manage and grow the company. The Directors are thrilled that the best senior executive team in the industry will continue to move the company forward into a bright future.”
