Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, the world’s 2nd largest software company, has announced that he will be stepping down from the position he has held since founding the company in 1977. He will take up the positions of Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer. In an unusual move, current Presidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd will take over as joint Chief Executive Officers.
Ellison noted that “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.” Although he is stepping down from his corporate management role, Ellison intends to continue to work at Oracle in a technical capacity.
Following his momentous announcement, the company announced its latest results revealing quarterly revenue of $8.6 billion, up 3.6% from the same period last year. This was below analysts’ expectations and the market’s reaction to these developments was to mark the shares down by 4%.
The company has now had several quarters of disappointing results. Over the last 37 years Ellison has fought off many competitors, the latest challenge being the rise of cloud computing. In his new role Ellison aims to make sure that Oracle has the technology and expertise to excel in this arena too.