By Alorie Gilbert, 29 January 2004 09:05
NEWS Larry Ellison, the usually outspoken and cavalier CEO of Oracle, passed up the opportunity to have his say once again on the PeopleSoft affair when he dodged questions from the audience at Oracle's AppsWorld Conference in San Diego.
When asked about the company's ongoing contest to acquire PeopleSoft many in the audience may have been bracing themselves for a bombast response, and journalists will have had their pens poised, but Ellison didn't take the bait.
"You need to ask the Justice Department," he said. "I'm not in charge."
The Justice Department is currently reviewing Oracle's multimillion-dollar bid on anticompetitive grounds. Oracle expects a decision from the government in March.
Ellison even remained measured when being drawn on the topic of the economy and the state of the information technology industry.
"Things seem like they're continuing to get better," he said to a group of reporters and securities analysts following his keynote speech. "We hope to have a very good quarter. It's going very well, but I'm not ready to change our guidance at all."
Ellison said the company has identified a number of "interesting, high-calibre candidates" to replace Jeff Henley as the company's chief financial officer. Oracle announced earlier this month that it had promoted Henley to chairman, replacing Ellison, and that Henley would relinquish the CFO position. The company has not yet named a replacement.
The management changes should benefit Oracle's customers by freeing up Henley to spend more time with them, Ellison said. The company is trying to develop an "increased sensitivity to customers" to help steer management decision, he added.
Alorie Gilbert writes for News.com
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