Oracle Corp. is facing the loss of its second chief financial officer in less than eight months. Having taken the CFO position only four months ago, Gregg Maffei announced earlier this week that he would be leaving the Redwood Shores, California based software maker to pursue what he stated was "a terrific professional opportunity" with an as of yet undisclosed company.
Maffei, no stranger to the high-tech industry, gained recognition as the CFO of Microsoft Corp., where he held that position for 2 1/2 years before leaving in early 2000 to take the CEO spot of Seattle, Washington based 360Networks. 360Networks ran in to trouble when it"s millions of miles of fiber failed to yield profits and eventually went bankrupt, restructuring to become a smaller player in the market in order to survive.
Prior to Maffei, Oracle had experienced another short term CFO, Harry You, who left Oracle in March, also to peruse an opportunity with another company. You had replaced Jeff Henley, who had taken the position as Oracle"s chairman after 13 years in the CFO spot.
The repeated turnover of the CFO position at Oracle has some industry analysts questioning the dynamics of the company"s management team. Oracle CEO and co-founder Larry Ellison insists that responsibilities are being delegated until a suitable replacement can be named.