September 6, 2010 9:15 PM

Mark Hurd's Labor Day Present: Co-Presidency at Oracle

By
Charles Cooper
Topics
In The News ,
Tech Talk

Labor Day marked Mark Hurd's return to the spotlight as a member of Silicon Valley's elite executives.

New Oracle co-president, Mark Hurd

(Credit: HP)

One month after resigning as CEO of Hewlett Packard, Hurd was named a co-president at Oracle.

"Mark did a brilliant job at H.P., and I expect he'll do even better at Oracle," Oracle chief executive Ellison said in a statement issued on Monday. "There is no executive in the I.T. world with more relevant experience than Mark."

In the release, Oracle also quoted one of its other co-presidents, Safra Catz, who called Hurd "an outstanding executive and a proven winner...I look forward to working with him for years to come. As Oracle continues to grow we need people experienced in operating a $100 billion business."

At the same time, Oracle announced in a separate statement the resignation of Charles Phillips, who had shared a co-presidency with Cats.

Phillips asked to leave Oracle last December, according the statement, but had agreed to stay on through the integration of Sun Microsystems, which Oracle acquired earlier last year. "We will miss his talent and leadership, but I respect his decision," Ellison said.

Earlier this year, Phillips was forced to publicly knowledge the existence of an extra-marital affair. After he ended their 8 and a half year relationship, YaVaughnie Wilkins put up a website and billboards outing their relationship.

Hurd resigned after an internal HP investigation found he had concealed a personal relationship with Jodie Fischer, who had worked for the company as an outside contractor. Although HP found no evidence of sexual harassment, Hurd settled with Fischer for an undisclosed amount.

Hurd's resignation was stunning because he was widely praised on Wall Street. Investors praised his cost-cutting; HP announced about 50,000 job cuts over the five years Hurd was CEO. Wall Street also liked that he engineered more than $20 billion in acquisitions, which helped HP reduce its dependence on printer ink for the bulk of its profits. HP is now a major player in technology services and computer networking.

Those traits could help Hurd at Oracle, which is also known for aggressive dealmaking and cost cuts.Hurd would also join Oracle at an interesting juncture for both companies. Oracle, the No. 1 database software maker, and HP, the No. 1 personal computer and printer maker, are longtime partners that are increasingly squaring off against each other. Oracle's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun last year made it a competitor to HP in the market for computer servers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

  • Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.

Add a Comment
by tsigili September 7, 2010 12:26 PM EDT
I'm sure Oracle will pay him millions per year, to be an alternate boss.
Reply to this comment
by bpai99 September 7, 2010 12:10 AM EDT
People like Ellison and Hurd, Whitman and Fiorina - they live in a world run by the Golden Rule: those with the gold make the rules. In this world, there isn't any problem that can't be solved by sufficient application of money. Color me green.
Reply to this comment
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