Mark Hurd, Oracle co-CEO, takes leave and cites health reasons – TechCrunch
Mark Hurd, one of two CEOs leading the database software giant Oracle, is taking leave due to health reasons, he told employees in a letter today. Oracle has not specified what Hurd's health issues are or how long he is expected to be gone.
Hurd joined Oracle nine years ago, after spending five years with Hewlett-Packard, where he was CEO, President and finally Chairman of the Board, all the roles he was pressured to resign in 2010 after submitted inaccurate expense reports designed to hide what HP at the time described as his "close personal relationship" with a female entrepreneur who helped with H-P's marketing.
The news shocked many outsiders, given Hurd's performance, which saw HP's shares double on his watch, even though the board suggested it had little choice after contractor's lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, contacted the company and accused sexual harassment. ("This was a necessary decision," said then-director Marc Andreessen at the time.)
Hurd made off with $ 1[ads1]2,224,693 in severance pay. Already next month, Larry Ellison, a friend of Hurd, named him co-president of Oracle, the company Ellison himself founded in the summer of 1977. Then-CEO Ellison said in a statement about the move, "Mark did a brilliant job at HP, and I expect him to do even better with Oracle. There is no leader in I.T. the world with more relevant experience than Mark. "
When Ellison resigned as CEO of Oracle in 2014 to become the company's technology manager instead, he promoted Hurd to the role of CEO, a role he has since shared with Oracle's former CFO, Safra Catz.
With Hurd's departure for now, Catz will become the sole CEO of Oracle. Ellison, who is still the company's CTO, is also expected to assume some of Hurd's responsibilities, CNBC said.
Hurd, who attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas on a tennis scholarship and reportedly dabbled in the professional tennis circuit just after graduation, began his career at NCR Corp., where he was promoted to CEO 22 years into his his tenure with the company, and for the role of CEO the following year, in 2003.
Two years later, HP brought him on board.
In a statement today, Ellison tried to reassure Oracle investors, writing that "Oracle has an extremely capable CEO of Safra Catz and an extraordinarily deep team of executives, many with long lead times in Oracle." Added Catz, "Mark was extremely engaged in the business through the end of our just completed Q1, but now Mark needs to focus on his health."
Oracle released its quarterly financial results as it announced Hurd's departure, revealing that The stock, which sits on Wall Street, estimates slightly, the stock, which fell 2.7% in afternoon trading, has recovered as of this writing.
This story is evolving, meanwhile, Hurd's full note to employees follows:
To all my friends and colleagues at Oracle,
Although we all worked hard to close the first quarter, I decided to spend time focusing on my health. At my request, the board gave me medical leave. you all know, Larry, Safra and I have worked together as a strong team, and I have great confidence that they and the entire corporate management team will do a fantastic job of executing the exciting plans we will showcase at that time de OpenWorld. [19659013] I love Oracle and wish you the best of luck during my absence.
Mark