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
