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Sun Microsystems Will Shed 3,000 Jobs

Mark Ellis — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:51:34 +0000

Sun Microsystems has decided that it will reduce its workforce by 3,000 jobs, or 10 percent of all its employees, because of several delays in its acquisition by Oracle Corp. Even after Oracle completes the acquisition of Sun, though, the company, which has been struggling with declining revenues, expects even more job reductions to occur.

The acquisition of Sun by Oracle was expected to close by the summer, but the deal has hit a snag in the form of European regulators that have been unwilling to approve the merger over fears that the new colossal company would snuff out competition. Sun’s business has been in dire straits for a while, with Oracle executives stating that Sun is losing $100 million a month.

Sun has stated that the job cuts will take place over the next twelve months, but a company spokesperson also confirmed that job cuts are already underway but declined to comment on how many jobs have already been eliminated. The company has also stated that the job cuts will also incur charges of anywhere from $75 million to $125 million over the next several quarters.

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Sun Microsystems Will Shed 3,000 Jobs

IBM: Monopoly or Just Top Competitor?

Mark Ellis — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:29:03 +0000

Antitrust regulators have had IBM in their sights for a while amidst concerns that the computer giant may squelch too much of its competition and hold a monopoly in the mainframe market. However, many analysts have begun to point out that IBM’s so-called monopoly on the mainframe market might actually only exist in small subsets of the market.

According to analysts, the part of the mainframe market that antitrust regulators have accused IBM of monopolizing makes up only a small portion of the wider server market, a playing field in which there is now plenty of competition. Oracle’s impending acquisition of Sun Microsystems, for example, will create a formidable competitor for IBM, as well Cisco Systems’ entry into the market.

The Computer and Communications Industry Association has stated that IBM has a 100 percent hold on mainframe operating systems, but the figure may be deceiving because of IBM’s dominance in supplying mainframes that run on their own operating systems. Supporters of IBM ensure that the competition exists in the market, but that too narrow of a scope makes it appear as if there is a monopoly.

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IBM: Monopoly or Just Top Competitor?

Oracle Takeover of Sun Hits Speed Bump

Mark Ellis — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:00:24 +0000

Software giant Oracle’s takeover of Sun Microsystems may not go so smoothly in Europe, where the European Commission has stated that the combination of Oracle and Sun would end up eliminating the growth of Sun’s free corporate database program. The European Commission has decided to continue investigating the merger, even though the Justice Department has already approved it.

While U.S. regulators’ main concern involved Oracle’s power in the marketplace, the questions surrounding open-source software have not been as popular on this side of the Atlantic. This would not be the first merger that the U.S. and the European Commission have butt heads over, such as the 2003 General Electric and Honeywell merger that was plainly rejected by the commission.

Oracle has already had its own experiences with European Union regulators, such as in 2004 when Oracle decided to take over PeopleSoft. While the European Commission did participate in an investigation very similar to the one that it plans to undergo now with Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, it eventually allowed Sun to go ahead with its takeover.

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Oracle Takeover of Sun Hits Speed Bump

Sun Posts Loss in Last Full Quarter

Mark Ellis — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:59:33 +0000

On the heels of its $4.7 billion acquisition by Oracle, Sun Microsystems has posted a significant quarterly loss as sales fell to disappointing levels. The last quarter probably marks Sun’s last full quarter as an independent company before it is absorbed entirely by software giant Oracle.

In a report filed yesterday, Sun reported a loss in the quarter ended June 30, which is the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, of 20 cents per share. This compares to Sun’s profit of 11 cents per share, or $88 million, in the same quarter last year, highlighting the negative impact that the recession has had on Sun and the rest of the technology sector in general.

Sales have also fallen, declining from $3.8 billion a year ago to $2.6 billion last quarter. The end of Sun’s fiscal year saw the company post a $2.23 billion loss throughout the year, as opposed to a $403 million gain last year. While Oracle agreed to pay $9.50 per share to buy out Sun, its shares have fallen to $9.32 in afterhours trading following the news.

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Sun Posts Loss in Last Full Quarter

Oracle’s Ellison Accepts $1 Salary for 2010

Mark Ellis — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:36:17 +0000

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has decided decrease his annual salary to $1 for the year 2010, according to Oracle’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The move will shave exactly $999,999 off of Ellison’s income compared to this year, but fortunately for Ellison, the world’s fourth-wealthiest man, his base salary only accounts for about 1.2 percent of his total earnings.

Other massively wealthy executives have paved the way in the field of $1 base salary reductions, such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. According to Oracle’s filing with the SEC, Ellison’s company wants to provide Ellison full compensation for the “active and vital role” he plays.

Most of Ellison’s wealth comes from the 1.18 billion shares of Oracle that he owns, 23.4 percent of the company’s total shares, and the compensation that he receives in stocks rather than in cash. Ellison founded Oracle in 1977 and the software company has since grown into the third-largest component of the software market, behind Microsoft and IBM.

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Oracle’s Ellison Accepts $1 Salary for 2010

Oracle’s Takeover of Sun Extended

Stephen Kersey — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:53:52 +0000

In one of the biggest business moves of 2009, Oracle agreed to takeover Sun Microsystems. The deal is estimated to be worth almost $7.5 billion. Sun Microsystems, a company in the computer server industry, had been linked to IBM — but those negotiations broke off and Oracle jumped in.

However, the official Oracle takeover of Sun will have to wait a little bit longer. The United States Department of Justice is requesting further information about the transaction. One of the areas that is under the microscope is what Oracle will do with Java, an extremely popular programming language.

Despite the requests for information, almost every industry expert believes that the takeover will eventually become official. Almost no one thinks any major snag will be hit that will put the transaction in jeopardy. Most predictions have Oracle officially taking over Sun by October 1st.

Sun Microsystems (Image: Flickr)

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Oracle’s Takeover of Sun Extended

Oracle Beats Expectations in Latest Quarter

Stephen Kersey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:50:48 +0000

Oracle, one of the largest software makers in the world, made investors smile on Tuesday. Even though the company had year-over-year drops in both profit and sales, Oracle was able to beat most expectations.

In their last quarter, most experts believed the company would have sales of about $6.5 billion. Instead, Oracle had $6.9 billion in sales. Compared to last year, Oracle’s sales were down about 5%.

In 2008, this quarter saw Oracle profit approximately $2 billion. In 2009, that number was down to about $1.9 billion. However, that was still better than expectations.

The main reasons why Oracle says they saw their profits sink a little bit were a strong dollar and the overall economic downturn in the United States and globally.

Safra Catz, President of Oracle: “Adjusted for the substantial movement in the US dollar exchange rate this fiscal year, which is beyond our control, we grew non-GAAP earnings per share by 19 percent for the year. That’s an amazing achievement given what’s been happening in the global economy over the past twelve months.”

On the stock market, Oracle shares had a healthy bounce after this news release.

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Oracle Beats Expectations in Latest Quarter

Relief Arrives for Oracle Leadership

Mark Ellis — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:25:17 +0000

After eight years of intense legal conflict, a judge has finally thrown out the lawsuit against Oracle CEO Larry Ellison of insider trading and deceiving investors. According to the judge, Susan Illston, lawyers failed to provide enough conclusive evidence that any of this ever went on, leaving the judge no choice but to dismiss the charges.

The lawsuit arose when Oracle missed an earnings report back in 2001 and blamed it on an economic slump. Investors quickly rose to blame the nonexistent earnings forecast on problems with software, bad accounting, and poor judgment, things that the Oracle leadership were aware of but never revealed to shareholders.

It came as no surprise when Oracle denied any wrongdoing in court. The fact that Ellison sold stocks in the midst of the economic slump was because he was holding stock options that had to be sold in a certain time period or they would lose their value.

Oracle's Larry Ellison (Image: Flickr)

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Relief Arrives for Oracle Leadership

Oracle Outbids IBM for Sun Microsystems

Stephen Kersey — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:23:33 +0000

For the last few months, Sun Microsystems had appeared to be on the verge of being purchased by IBM. On Monday, many industry experts were shocked to learn that Oracle had hopped over IBM and has reportedly bought Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.

Sun Microsystems had made it clear that they were for sale. Their sales had been slumping and the future didn’t appear bright for the company. However, they were a hot commodity because of the large industry reach, recognizable brand and an array of impressive customers.

The deal for Oracle now makes them a much more powerful company. Some industry experts say that Oracle can now compete on the same level as IBM following this deal. With Oracle’s reputation of knowing how to cut corners and milk every penny out of a business plan, they are a good match to fix Sun Microsystems’ problems.

Oracle was founded in 1971 and is one of the leading business software solutions companies in the world. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982 and its main business is in the computer servers industry.

Oracle Building (Image: Flickr)

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Oracle Outbids IBM for Sun Microsystems