Larry Ellison, dynamic 70 year old founder and CEO of game-changing software company Oracle, is stepping down as chief executive, but with a 25% stake in the company and twin roles of chairman and chief technology officer, he is hardly distancing himself from Oracle. While Apple experienced a trauma after the passing of Steve Jobs, the story of Oracle will not be like Apple post-Jobs because, well, there isn’t likely to post-Ellison era; the former CEO is still going to be an active participant in the company. Oracle was the dominant name in software, buying up rivals to the tune of $40 million in acquisitions through the years. While Ellison was generously compensated, shareholders also saw their stock quadruple in just a decade. Oracle’s story changed, however, with the advent of the cloud, which disrupted Oracle’s business model. While Oracle has ventured into the cloud, it has significant catching up to do to be neck in neck with its rival Salesforce.com. Mark Hurd and Safra Katz will serve as co-CEOs to ease the transition period.
