Might as well toss the Associated Press piece in for good measure:
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03-18-97 1634EST
Novell Taps Technology Guru
By BOB MIMS= Associated Press Writer=
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Novell Inc., seeking to revive its
shrinking software empire, on Tuesday named Sun
Microsystems' technology guru Eric Schmidt as its chairman
and chief executive.
Investors embraced the company's choice of one of the
high-tech industry's stars and Internet experts. Novell's stock
jumped more than 10 percent, or about 88 cents to $9.44 per
share, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Schmidt, a prime mover behind Sun's popular Java
programming language, fills the vacancy created last August
when Robert Frankenberg quit amid criticism he wasn't fixing
the company fast enough. Schmidt takes charge April 7.
Novell still is the leading seller of operating systems used to
control personal computer networks. But growth of PC
networks has slowed, and Microsoft Corp. is targeting
Novell's business with its Windows NT operating system,
which can perform many functions of Novell's flagship
Netware.
Microsoft's sales of network operating systems for corporate
``intranets'' doubled last year while Novell's rose only 10
percent, according to International Data Corp., a market
research firm.
Schmidt, a 13-year veteran of Sun Microsystems Inc., was a
driving force behind the company's Java programming language
for creating software on the Internet. Java makes it easier to
make programs that run on any type of computer or operating
system and has been licensed to every major computer and
software company.
``When the opportunity came up to lead one of the most
exciting companies in the networking space, my immediate
reaction was `This is an opportunity of a lifetime,''' Schmidt
said.
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While buoyed by the hire, shareholders demanded fast action.
``Bottom line, I think they made a good pick, all-around, given
the situation,'' said Joe Antol, a New Jersey shareholder
leading the Novell Investors Coalition, whose members say
they own a combined 500,000 shares and have demanded in
Internet chat forums that the company's board be ousted.
``But Novell had a lot of problems,'' he added. ``(Schmidt)
says it's the opportunity of a lifetime? That's an
understatement.''
**********************************************************************
Therese Murphy, an equity analyst with Smith Barney in San
Francisco, praised Schmidt as a good communicator with
extensive industry experience.
Murphy said Schmidt has ``terrific technical, market and sales
experience. In every respect, this makes a lot of sense.''
In other Novell moves, Joe Marengi was promoted from vice
president of worldwide sales to acting president, after acting as
chief executive officer for the past six months.
(PROFILE
(CO:Novell Inc; TS:NOVL; IG:SOF;)
(CO:Sun Microsystems Inc; TS:SUNW; IG:CPR;)
(CO:Microsoft Corp; TS:MSFT; IG:SOF;)
(CO:Smith Barney Holdings; TS:SBI;)
(CAT:Business;)
(CAT:HiTech;)
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Now you see Fundace, I said FAST at least a dozen times <g>
Joe... |
