The big news in the tech world today is that Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison is moving from his role at the head of the company and will now be Oracle’s chief technology officer and executive chairman.
Ellison’s replacements—yes, two chief executives—have already been appointed. One is Mark Hurd, who had been co-president of the company. The other co-CEO is his fellow co-president, Safra Catz.
Catz, who was born in Israel, moved to Brookline at age six when her father got a job at MIT. A graduate of Brookline High School, she ended up going to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Catz had been regarded as one of the most powerful women working behind-the-scenes in the technology industry. She is definitely in the limelight now, and will oversee all of Oracle’s manufacturing, finance, and legal functions.
Ellison’s move could also lead to another local taking a step up the corporate ladder at Oracle. Robert Weiler, Oracle’s executive vice president of global business units, is a strong candidate to take on some of the responsibilities previously shouldered by Catz and Hurd.
Weiler, who lives in the Boston suburbs, is the former chief executive at then Waltham-based Phase Forward, which was a healthcare software company acquired by Oracle in 2010 for a reported $685 million.