Oracle Says Co-CEO Mark Hurd Has Died -- Update
October 18 2019 - 1:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Robert Wall
Oracle Corp. said Mark Hurd, one of its two chief executives
officers, has died.
Oracle said last month that Mr. Hurd, 62, was taking a medical
leave of absence, removing the technology giant's top executive for
sales and strategy at a time of intensifying competition in the
business-software market.
Oracle didn't immediately mention the cause of death and hadn't
said what specific issues the CEO was facing when he took
leave.
Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said "Oracle has lost a brilliant
and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of
us during his decade at Oracle."
The death means Safra Catz is Oracle's sole CEO. Since September
2014 Oracle has had an unusual leadership structure in which Mr.
Hurd and Ms. Catz share the CEO title, while Mr. Ellison is
chairman and technology chief.
Mr. Hurd joined Oracle in 2010 after resigning his role as
Hewlett Packard CEO on Aug. 6 that year. The computer maker's board
had investigated Mr. Hurd over his relationship with a female
contractor. Though the board found Mr. Hurd didn't violate
company's policy regarding sexual-harassment, it found he violated
company standards by submitting inaccurate expense reports to
conceal the relationship.
In a statement at the time, Mr. Hurd said that "there were
instances in which I did not live up to the standards and
principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at
H-P and which have guided me throughout my career." A spokesman for
Mr. Hurd said later that there was nothing untoward or improper
about Mr. Hurd's relationship with the contractor.
He quickly re-emerged at Oracle, hired by the company's
co-founder Larry Ellison for the role. The two were tennis buddies
and Mr. Ellison had spoken out against H-P's board for pushing out
the CEO.
When Mr. Ellison became Oracle's executive chairman, Mr. Hurd
became CEO in 2014 alongside Ms. Catz. Mr. Hurd helped move Oracle
to more aggressively pursue cloud computing deals -- a booming
field in which the company had fallen behind rivals.
At Oracle, Mr. Hurd closely oversaw the company's sales
structure as the company battled to maintain its position as a
large force in the software-as-a-service market, where it is the
No. 3, according to research firm Gartner Inc. Mr. Hurd also had
been closely involved in Oracle's bid to win customers in the
booming field of cloud-computing to catch up with rivals Amazon.com
Inc. and Microsoft, that dominate market.
Prior to joining HP in 2005, Mr. Hurd spent 25 years working his
way up the sales and marketing ranks at NCR, previously known as
National Cash Register Co. He was named president in 2001 and CEO
two years later.
When he took over NCR, it was struggling, coming off a year when
it posted a loss of $220 million. He quickly moved to expand NCR's
reach and cut costs. Under Mr. Hurd, NCR fired employees, some who
had spent their entire career with the company.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 18, 2019 13:16 ET (17:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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