Oracle’s Ellison Steps Down as CEO, Replaced by Hurd and Catz

Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison stepped down as chief executive officer of the software maker he founded, making way for a new generation of executives and ending one of the most profitable runs for a leader in business history.

Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, currently co-presidents of Oracle, were both named CEO to replace Ellison, the company said today. Hurd will run sales, marketing and strategy, while Catz will remain chief financial officer and oversee legal and manufacturing operations. Ellison will become chairman, replacingJeff Henley, and also take on the title of chief technology officer.

Ellison, who turned 70 last month, guided the Redwood City, California-based company for more than 35 years to make it the world’s largest database-software company and one of the biggest providers of business programs. Oracle’s products have become the backbone of modern commerce and industry. The company has a market capitalization of more than $185 billion and produces annual revenue of $38 billion.

Ellison’s departure as CEO also signals a broader changing of the guard in the technology industry, as a generation of founder-CEOs who ushered in the personal-computer and business-software era leave their posts. Ellison, who co-founded Oracle in 1977 and has run the company ever since, rose alongside Apple Inc.’s Steve Jobs and Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Gates.

Oracle’s Position

Oracle’s shares fell in extended trading after increasing less than 1 percent to $41.54 at the close in New York.

Ellison is leaving the day-to-day operations of Oracle at a time when the software industry he helped promote has been disrupted by the rise of cloud-computing technologies. Oracle’s core business has been selling software designed to run on gear owned by the customer, and by charging a license fee. New cloud technologies let companies rent software without having to invest in equipment or commit to a license.

Oracle’s sales growth has been less than 5 percent for 11 of the past 12 quarters. The company has struggled to sign up new customers and has turned to selling more hardware and industry-specific technologies to existing customers.

Ellison remains Oracle’s largest shareholder, holding 1,1 billion shares, or 25 percent, of the company. The next largest shareholder is BlackRock Inc., with a 4.2 percent share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.