The former Microsoft chief financial officer will join the database company as its new president.
Where do you want to go today, Mr. Maffei? Why, off to Redwood Shores, California, of course, to join Larry Ellison’s company.
“Greg is an exceptional executive with a wealth of experience in the software and telecommunications industries,” said Mr. Ellison, Oracle CEO. “The entire senior management team is looking forward to working with Greg.”
Mr. Maffei most recently served as Chairman and CEO of 360networks Corporation, a leading broadband provider serving the rural Western United States. He led the successful restructuring of the company.
“Oracle is one of the premier technology franchises on the front end of an extremely strong product cycle. I am excited to help lead the company during this next round of growth,” said Mr. Maffei.
Wall Street seems to have taken a favorable stance on Mr. Maffei’s appointment. Early morning trading of Oracle shares has been about 13 cents above yesterday’s close of $12.51.
Mr. Maffei will have responsibility for the legal department, human resources, manufacturing and distribution, and global real estate. It has not been mentioned how Mr. Maffei might influence Oracle’s PeopleSoft addition.
The recent acquisition of PeopleSoft by Oracle has allowed the company to expand its application offerings to the enterprise market. Oracle says the combined company now has more database and application customers than any other in the world.
PeopleSoft’s products include customer relationship management, supply chain management, and several other business solutions to join Oracle’s lineup of database and JD Edwards offerings.
Oracle’s previous CFO, Harry You, left in March to become chief executive at consulting firm BearingPoint.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
