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fwd: No Rush At Oracle To Fill President Vacancy (article)

From: Eric D. Pierce <PierceED_at_csus.edu>
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 10:39:41 -0700
Message-Id: <10550.111362@fatcity.com>


http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW20000705S0004

Wednesday, July 5, 2000, 11:30 AM ET.

                No Rush At Oracle
                To Fill President
                Vacancy 

                By Rick Whiting and Steve
                Konick, InformationWeek 

                Oracle's president and chief
                operating officer posts will go
                unfilled for the time being,
                following Friday's announcement
                that Ray Lane is stepping down.
                CEO Larry Ellison will oversee
                the software company's sales
                operations, according to an
                Oracle spokeswoman, while
                executive VP Gary Bloom will
                direct the company's marketing,
                development, support, and
                education operations.

                Although Bloom is widely seen
                as a logical replacement for
                Lane, it appears that the
                company is in no hurry to
                designate a replacement. Bloom
                has worked at Oracle since
                1986, holding such positions as
                senior VP of worldwide alliances
                and technologies and senior VP
                of product and platform
                technologies. He previously held
                technical positions at IBM and
                Chevron Corp. 

                The Oracle spokeswoman was
                unable to provide more details
                about Lane's departure, such as
                his reasons for leaving and
                whether his resignation was
                effective immediately--although
                that appeared to be the case.
                Lane was not at Oracle on
                Monday and was unavailable for
                comment. 

                Lane's departure has been
                rumored for more than a year.
                Speculation last year was that
                he was a candidate for the open
                CEO jobs at Compaq and
                Hewlett-Packard, although Lane
                maintained that he had no
                interest in leaving Oracle for
                another job. Lane recently
                started a second family and has
                a toddler son and a baby on the
                way. One source suggests that
                with Oracle running more
                smoothly than it has in years,
                Lane may have simply decided
                this was the best moment to
                step back from the day-to-day
                running of the world's
                second-largest software
                company. Lane will remain a
                member of Oracle's board of
                directors. 

                It also appears that the transition
                has been in the works for some
                time. The spokeswoman says
                Lane has been turning more of
                his duties over to Bloom this
                year. The most immediate
                change from Lane's departure is
                that sales executives who had
                reported to the president/chief
                operating officer will report to
                Ellison. 

                Lane has been with Oracle for
                eight years. Before being named
                president and chief operating
                officer in September 1996, he
                was president of worldwide
                operations and was credited
                with bringing discipline and focus
                to the company's sales force. As
                Oracle's second in command,
                the no-nonsense Lane was
                widely viewed as the steady
                hand on the company's helm, in
                contrast to the more quixotic
                Ellison. 

                Charles Phillips, a software
                analyst and managing director
                for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter,
                says he has spoken with Lane a
                number of times in the past year
                about Lane's leaving Oracle. It
                boils down to spending more
                time with his family and a
                reluctance to continue his intense
                duties at Oracle. 

                Phillips says Lane is most likely
                to get involved in a
                venture-capital firm, or to sit on
                the boards of various companies
                interested in his expertise. "He
                won't retire. But he sees no
                need to do the heavy lifting any
                more." 

                Phillips says Lane "wanted to
                leave when it made sense
                financially, and it makes sense
                now." He says Lane was well
                compensated at Oracle and can
                command good money working
                in venture capital or sitting on
                corporate boards. 


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Received on Thu Jul 06 2000 - 12:39:41 CDT

Original text of this message

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