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Technology Stocks : Oracle Corporation (ORCL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob who wrote (14119)	7/2/2000 9:03:06 PM
From: Bipin Prasad	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19080

Ray Lane, Oracle's No. 2 Executive, Will Step Down, Software Giant Says BY MARK BOSLET Dow Jones Newswires PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Ray Lane, Oracle Corp.'s No. 2 executive, will leave his posts at the software giant, the company announced late Friday. Oracle didn't offer a reason for Mr. Lane's departure as chief operating officer and president, but said he will remain a member of the board. A spokeswoman didn't return calls seeking comment, and Mr. Lane couldn't be reached. Mr. Lane is widely credited with bringing the company back from a crisis, in which Oracle had inappropriately booked software sales. After joining the company in 1992, he brought professional standards to the company's sales organization and was responsible for creating its service business. In addition, the company credits Mr. Lane with helping augment Oracle's annual revenue from about $1 billion in 1992 to about $9.7 billion currently. Mr. Lane has been considered among Silicon Valley's most eligible top executives and was believed to have been considered for top posts at such companies as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Novell Inc. Rumors of Mr. Lane's departure have circulated for about nine months, and analysts said his departure was expected. Robert Austrian, an analyst at Bank of America Securities, said Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison is "back in the cockpit" running the business. In a brief statement, Mr. Ellison said he was grateful to Mr. Lane. InSook Prasad

To: bob who wrote (14119)	7/5/2000 4:15:46 PM
From: bob	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 19080

Wednesday July 5, 3:08 pm Eastern Time Forbes.com Why Ray Lane Left Oracle By David Einstein The abrupt departure of Oracle President and Chief Operating Office Ray Lane is going over like a lead balloon on Wall Street. Oracle's (Nasdaq: ORCL - news) stock fell $3.88 to $80.19 on July 3 as investors reacted to the news. And the shares continue to fall today, losing more than $6 in afternoon trading. The fear is that without Lane, mercurial Chief Executive Larry Ellison may not have the ballast he needs to keep the giant database company on course. Did Lane quit or was he fired? The June 30 announcement from Oracle headquarters in Redwood Shores, Calif., failed to give a clue as to why Ellison's second banana for the past eight years suddenly was cleaning out his office. Given the succinct nature of the press release (two paragraphs and 76 words), however, it was clear regardless of the circumstances, Oracle had not planned the departure in advance. Ellison moved quickly this week to consolidate his power, annexing the president and COO titles, and announcing that Lane will not be replaced. At the same time, he created an executive team--marketing chief Gary Bloom, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Henley and Executive Vice President Safra Catz--that ostensibly will help manage Oracle's day-to-day affairs. In reality, the team will have about the same influence as the Cuban parliament. There was speculation that Lane was taking the fall for Oracle after the discovery last week that the company paid a detective agency to dig up dirt on Microsoft. However, Oracle officials denied any connection between the events. What's more likely is that Oracle simply outgrew Lane. A sales and marketing whiz, he rescued the company from financial troubles in 1992 and put together an organization that set the pace for customer relations in the software industry. But Oracle's business has shifted dramatically to the Internet, reducing the need for traditional sales and service practices. The past couple of years have been great for Ellison, who has led Oracle's charge onto the Internet. Today, the company provides the database component for virtually all of the top online commerce sites. Oracle has earned $6.3 billion in the past 12 months on sales of $10.1 billion. And Ellison--now the second richest man in the world behind Bill Gates--is basking in Oracle's success. As Ellison's visibility soared, Lane started to disappear, making his departure a question of when and not if. In the past couple of years he has looked around for another gig. He reportedly was on the short list for CEO jobs at Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL - news), Electronic Data Systems (NYSE: EDS - news) and Compaq Computer (NYSE: CPQ - news). To keep him relatively happy, Oracle gave truckloads of stock options. Ellison obviously now thinks he can manage nicely without Lane. Some analysts aren't so sure. ``Lane was a kind of foundation that kept Oracle sane,'' says Rob Enderle of Giga Information Group. ``Larry almost took the company under once, and there is a great deal of concern that he could do it again.'' Enderle cites the private investigation of Microsoft as an example of the kinds of risks Ellison is known to take. Don't feel sorry for Lane, who according to Ellison received some $2 billion of Oracle options. He could go back to consulting, which he did at Booz Allen & Hamilton before joining Oracle. Or he could go to an aspiring dot-com in need of a seasoned veteran leader. One thing you can count on--he won't play second fiddle again. Go to www.forbes.com to see all of our latest stories.