Safra Catz and Mark Hurd are both chief executives for Oracle in a rare case of a shared CEO structure, Business Insider said.
In September, Oracle’s founder Larry Ellison announced that he was stepping down as CEO after 37 years, and promoted his right-hand man and woman, Hurd and Catz, who had already been sharing the No. 2 role of president, the report said.
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Ellison became CTO, leading product development which has always been his favorite focus, and remained their boss by becoming executive chairman of the board, the website said.
Shared CEO structures are rare and, typically, temporary. Sooner or later, one of them moves on and the other rules alone. For that reason, industry insiders see this as a giant job interview between Hurd and Catz for the day when Ellison really leaves the company, according to Business Insider.
As for a “jump ball” between himself and the longtime finance whiz for the sole CEO job, Hurd said he’s not focusing on that but is all about “moving the company forward”, and he’s got nothing but praise for Catz, the report said.
“I’ve done this CEO job three times, I’ve done them alone and now I’ve done them with a partner, ” he told Business Insider. “When you work with someone like Safra who is smart, knows the business, is a fierce competitor, is easy to work with, it’s a hell of lot easier than doing these jobs alone. I love every minute. I see her all the time. Virtually every day.”
