Oracle changes leadership: dual CEOs take over, current CEO Catz becomes vice chairman

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Oracle announced on Monday that Clay Magouyrk, President of Cloud Infrastructure, and Mike Sicilia, President of Industry Applications, have both been promoted to Co-Chief Executive Officers (co-CEOs). Current CEO Safra Catz will become Executive Vice Chairman of the company's board.

At the same time, company founder Larry Ellison will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer. Media sources note that Ellison has also been active outside the company in recent years. In August, he helped fund the merger of Skydance Media with Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News. The merged company is led by his son, David Ellison, and, according to recent media reports, is considering acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.

According to media reports, thanks to its cloud infrastructure business and access to Nvidia GPUs, Oracle has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom. Currently, Oracle is in fierce competition with major cloud service providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

As President of Cloud Infrastructure, Magouyrk led the development of Oracle's second-generation cloud platform; Sicilia is responsible for application businesses in verticals like finance and retail. Ellison said in a statement:

"A few years ago, Clay and Mike focused Oracle's infrastructure and applications businesses on artificial intelligence, and that is now paying off."

"They are both proven leaders, and I look forward to working alongside them in the future. Oracle's prospects are bright."

Analysts believe that although having two people serve as CEO is uncommon, Oracle has made similar arrangements in the past. This appointment also enables the company to promote more middle managers, preventing organizational stagnation. Insiders told the media that Magouyrk and Sicilia have more technical and engineering advantages, while Catz excels at financial management.

Boosted by this news, Oracle's stock price rose by over 5.4% during Monday's trading.

Accelerating the Transition to AI Cloud Infrastructure

On Monday, Oracle highlighted its accelerated transition to AI-driven cloud infrastructure with an online event themed "AI Changes Everything."

This management reshuffle comes after a strong earnings report and record-high share prices for Oracle. Over the past month, Oracle's stock price soared 30% following first-quarter results showing AI-driven cloud business growth, and is up about 85% year to date. The company also disclosed that its "remaining performance obligations" (undelivered contract revenue) have risen to $455 billion, a year-over-year surge of 359%.

On Monday, Oracle also reaffirmed its financial guidance. In a statement, Catz said:

"With the company in a strong position, now is the best time to hand over the CEO role to a new generation of capable leadership."

For decades, Oracle grew through database software licensing and also offered applications and middleware. In the early 2010s, as Amazon entered the IT market with cloud services, Oracle started to build its own cloud platform. Initial reactions were tepid, but after launching its second-generation infrastructure in 2018, momentum picked up, and the company won up-and-coming tech clients such as Zoom.

After OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, Oracle aggressively leased Nvidia chips to train and run AI models, even winning business away from competitor Microsoft. Recently, Oracle signed a five-year contract with OpenAI, starting in 2027, worth a total of $300 billion.

Catz's Departure Draws Attention

Catz became Oracle's co-CEO with Mark Hurd in 2014 after Ellison stepped down. Following Hurd's death in 2019, Catz led the company solo. She joined Oracle in 1999, after 13 years as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and has served as Oracle's Chief Financial Officer since 2005.

As one of only 55 female CEOs among Fortune 500 companies, her departure is drawing attention. Catz worked closely with Ellison: Ellison led weekly R&D meetings, while Catz handled more external affairs. Media note that she recently sold over $2.5 billion in stock, making this leadership transition even more symbolic.

Ellison said:

"Safra led Oracle to become a hyperscale cloud service giant, as is clearly reflected in our recent results. As Vice Chairman, she and I will continue our 26-year partnership to jointly lead Oracle's direction, growth, and success."

Additionally, the company announced the promotion of two executives: Mark Hura, EVP of North America Sales, will become President of Global Business, and Doug Kehring, EVP of Operations, will serve as Chief Financial Officer.

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