Mike Sicilia, left, and Clay Magouyrk are Oracle’s new CEOs. – (L) Rod Lamkey/CNP/Zuma Press; (R) Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg News
Oracle has appointed a pair of chief executives to take over the C-suite as longtime chief Safra Catz transitions to a new role as executive vice chair.
The software company said Monday that Clay Magouyrk, president of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure business, and Oracle Industries President Mike Sicilia are now Oracle’s chief executive officers.
They are taking the reins from Catz, one of the most prominent female executives in the tech sector who became Oracle’s co-chief executive in 2014 and its sole CEO in 2019.
“At this time of strength is the right moment to pass the CEO role to the next generation of capable executives,” Catz said.
The decision to make the change now is driven by several factors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Catz, who is 63 years old, didn’t anticipate being chief executive for much longer, and the company wanted to act in a moment of strength.
The leadership shift comes less than two weeks after Oracle blew investors away with forecasts for its cloud-infrastructure revenue to climb 77% this fiscal year to $18 billion on the back of multibillion-dollar contracts that are ballooning the company’s backlog.
It also comes after Oracle said it had added $317 billion in future contract revenue from three different customers during the quarter ending Aug. 31. OpenAI was among the customers, buying about $300 billion in computing power, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Oracle is referring to its pair as CEOs, rather than as co-CEOs.
Safra Catz became Oracle’s co-chief executive in 2014 and its sole CEO in 2019. – Joe Raedle/Getty Images
By elevating Magouyrk and Sicilia now, it is also able to promote staff underneath them and guard against stagnation, the person said. Oracle also has to deliver on the computing contracts it has signed and needs proven leaders to help it accomplish its goals.
Magouyrk and Sicilia are both internally seen as having more engineering strengths than Catz, who is known for finance talents.
Senior Oracle leadership began to discuss the change months ago, and Catz recently indicated she was ready to act on it following Oracle’s blowout quarter, the person said. Senior executives are also keen on two CEOs since the company has made it work before, and Oracle is a large organization with diversified businesses.
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and chairman, will remain chief technology officer.
“Safra led Oracle as we became a hyperscale cloud powerhouse—clearly demonstrated by our recent results,” Ellison said. “In her role as Vice Chair, Safra and I will be able to continue our 26-year partnership—helping to guide Oracle’s direction, growth and success.”
Based in Austin, Tex., Oracle is known for its technology for storing and managing data for companies, and has also become a leading player in cloud computing. Its investments in building cloud computing capacity for AI training has helped lift Oracle’s market capitalization to roughly $925 billion.
Oracle, along with private-equity firm Silver Lake and other U.S. backers, is nearing a deal to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations with the blessing of President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The cloud-infrastructure unit’s top line is on track to reach $32 billion, then $73 billion, then $114 billion and finally $144 billion in the four fiscal years that follow, according to Oracle’s projections, which sent the company’s share price rising to a record high earlier this month. Oracle reaffirmed that guidance on Monday.
In announcing the changes, Oracle emphasized the artificial-intelligence credentials of its new CEOs.
The company said Magouyrk, 39, had made Oracle’s cloud infrastructure the “go-to platform for AI training and inference.” Magouyrk came to Oracle from Amazon Web Services and was a founding member of Oracle’s cloud-engineering team.
He has been instrumental in building Oracle’s Generation 2 cloud infrastructure, which has become a success for the company. Under the Gen 2 infrastructure, Oracle’s cloud business has grown significantly by focusing on AI training and inference.
Sicilia, 54, brings expertise in applied AI, Oracle said. He joined Oracle as part of the company’s 2008 deal to buy portfolio-management firm Primavera Systems, and his teams have added AI agents to Oracle’s healthcare, banking and other industry-application suites.
Catz joined Oracle in 1999 and has held several roles, including as president and chief financial officer. She has had a close working relationship with Ellison. He has led development meetings each week while Catz has taken on more traditional CEO work like external events.
Mark Hura, executive vice president of North America sales, will become president of Global Field Operations and Doug Kehring, executive vice president of operations, will be elevated to principal financial officer, effectively a chief financial officer role.
