Larry Ellison steps down as Oracle CEO
Mark Hurd and Safra Catz will share CEO duties


Larry Ellison has quit the role of chief executive of Oracle after 35 years in the job.
Mark Hurd and Safra Catz will now become co-CEOs, with Ellison taking on the roles of executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle.
Hurd and Catz are currently co-presidents at Oracle. As co-chief executives, Catz will run legal and manufacturing operations and stay as chief finance officer while Hurd looks after marketing and strategy.
Despite advancing age (he has just turned 70) and his billions in the bank, Ellison will remain a full-time employee.
"Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full-time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy," said Oracle board president Michael Boskin.
"Safra and Mark are exceptional executives who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to lead, manage and grow the company. The directors are thrilled that the best senior executive team in the industry will continue to move the company forward into a bright future."
Ellison, who is ranked fifth wealthiest man in the world with a fortune estimated to be $51.4 billion, said the change now meant that Hurd and Catz report to the board rather than to him.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
"The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine," said Ellison.
Ellison co-founded Oracle and has been its chief since 1977. He remains Oracle's largest shareholder with 1.1 billion shares, or 25 per cent of the company. The firm is noted for its habit of acquiring companies such as PeopleSoft, Siebel, BEA and Sun Microsystems, to name a few.
Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continues
News Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
By Ross Kelly
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPT
Opinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
By Ross Kelly
-
IBM eyes Oracle expertise gains with latest acquisition
News The deal aims to help IBM address the complexities of public sector cloud transformation
By Emma Woollacott
-
Channel Focus: All you need to know about Oracle's partner program
What to know about partnering with Oracle: A brief guide to the database management software company as it expands further into cloud solutions
By Fleur Doidge
-
Compliance through automation and localization
ITPro Podcast The crossover between automation, localization, and even AI is strong
By Rory Bathgate
-
Will NetSuite take a cautious approach to AI at SuiteWorld 2023?
Analysis Generative AI is likely to loom large over SuiteWorld – but NetSuite may instead bank on boosting its core end-to-end automation tech
By Rory Bathgate
-
Oracle updates HCM capabilities to focus on value and set employees up for success
News Reward and recognition - especially by peers - are key tenets of the update to the Oracle Me employee experience platform
By Maggie Holland
-
Oracle: Generative AI is bigger than B2B, bigger than us
News Oracle's CTO, chairman, and current CEO once again set the bar high during Oracle CloudWorld 2023 keynotes
By Maggie Holland
-
Oracle sets out its stall for a new age of multi-cloud
Opinion Embracing rival providers with open arms is a bold strategy, one that plays to Oracle’s strengths in infrastructure
By Bobby Hellard
-
The best IT management tools
Best We feature the best IT management tools, to help make the process of managing IT systems simpler and easier, from customer support to diagnostics
By Ritoban Mukherjee