News: Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd passes away

Leadership

Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd passes away

Oracle had announced last month that Hurd would be taking a medical leave but did not give any other details.
Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd passes away

Oracle Corp's Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hurd, passed away on October 18, as per media reports. He was 62.

The business software maker announced last month that Hurd would be taking a medical leave but did not give any other details. Oracle founder and chairman Larry Ellison and Co-CEO Safra Catz were sharing Mark’s responsibilities while he was on leave. Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison informed the company staffers that Hurd had died early on the morning of October 18.

It was not immediately clear how Oracle's leadership structure would change in the wake of Mr. Hurd's death.

"Oracle has lost a brilliant and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of us during his decade at Oracle," Mr. Ellison said in a statement posted on Mark’s personal website.

Oracle declined to comment beyond the statement. The company did not disclose the details of why he went on medical leave, nor the cause of his death.

Hurd's Oracle career started in 2010, one month after he resigned as Hewlett-Packard's CEO over sexual harassment allegations. Later that year, he and Safra Catz were named co-presidents of Oracle. In 2014, when Ellison stepped down as CEO, he named the pair to replace him. 

In his statement, Ellison described Hurd as a close friend and trusted colleague.

Hurd will be remembered as an operational and sales genius who streamlined HP’s operations though his reign was also marked by cost-cutting, a corporate spying scandal and allegations of sexual harassment. At Oracle, he brought strong leadership and strategic thinking. He played a critical role in Oracle’s bid to establish itself as a stronger player in cloud computing. His death comes as a setback for the company as it is transitioning from traditional enterprise products to cloud computing and facing stiff competition from Amazon, Google, and Salesforce.

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Topics: Leadership

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