Oracle Reportedly Taking Time Appointing Co-CEO Mark Hurd’s Successor

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison has put forward five candidates for the co-CEO job, but the plan is nuanced.

Oracle Corp. is reportedly sticking to its current leadership structure for right now as it takes its time preparing an internal candidate to succeed CEO Mark Hurd, who died last month at the age of 62.

Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Tuesday that the Redwood City, Calif.-based tech giant is leaving control of the company to company Chairman Larry Ellison and Hurd’s co-CEO, Safra Catz.

And while Ellison has put forward five candidates for the top job, none of them has emerged as a front-runner. The company would likely appoint a president first who could then grow into the CEO role, according to the Bloomberg report. Oracle, one of the sources said, has considered promoting an executive with product or technical expertise.

CRN has reached out to Oracle for comment.

[Related story: Mark Hurd's 10 Most Provocative Statements At Oracle Media Day]

Hurd became Oracle’s CEO in 2014 after Ellison stepped down from that position and created a dual CEO role with both Hurd and Safra Catz at the helm. Ellison is currently the vendor’s chairman and chief technology officer.

Under Hurd’s leadership, Oracle embarked on its mission to conquer the burgeoning cloud sector -- competing against the likes of cloud titans Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google. In 2016, Oracle announced the acquisition of cloud computing firm NetSuite for $9.3 billion. Hurd also secured deals with AT&T, Bank of America, and Qantas Airlines, helping bring their existing databases to the cloud.