14 ms·

Mark Hurd Has Died

204 points by big_chungus 7y ago

purpleflame1257 7y ago
Finally, Oracle's lawyers have met an adversary they can't sue... Death.
- darth_skywalker 7y ago
  Try to be more respectful. We're talking about a human being who died.
  - asveikau 7y ago
    Condolences to Mr. Hurd's loved ones. But I think there is actually a good point behind a possibly tasteless joke. If you are overly litigious in life, or take up certain aggressive business practices, maybe the thought of death is humbling and can teach us all to relax and be kinder. I think we all know our share of living people who could use this advice.
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      I have found the below quote to be helpful in this regard. “When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if we must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.”
      - clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago
        Memento mori
      - rosstex 7y ago
        I burst into tears upon reading this comment. Thank you.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
CrankyBear 7y ago
I knew he'd taken time up for a health problem, but I sure hadn't seen this coming.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
codemac 7y ago
62 is quite young :(
wyxuan 7y ago
From his website: https://markhurd.com/announcement/ https://markhurd.com/announcement/
- hodgesrm 7y ago
  Good message from Larry Ellison.
- gnicholas 7y ago
  404 showing now.
- cafard 7y ago
  The link is missing an 'n' in "announcement". The link as is does work after a minute, though.
- _ph_ 7y ago
  Here is the correct link: https://markhurd.com/announcement/ https://markhurd.com/announcement/
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
> Hurd settled with Fisher, who had once modeled for Playboy magazine, for undisclosed terms. The modeling for Playboy seems like a very gratuitous detail to include and doesn't seem to serve any purpose for the story.
- spinach 7y ago
  Cause it's easy to get the estimate of a man by the woman they date/marry.
  - bluedevil2k 7y ago
    That comment is incredibly demeaning to women
    - elipsey 7y ago
      I actually can't tell who's being sarcastic here. I think that in general, if an executive has an afair with a model, that speaks to their personality or character, as choosing to date another engineer speaks to mine. If it appears mercenary, well, that seems like an expected quality in the CEO of Oracle. I aspire to conduct myself so that whenever I die I will be remembered as something more altruistic, or at least ethical than a corporate raider, or a politician who tried to sleep with his interns, etc.
    - swagtricker 7y ago
      Are you sure? I read that as being incredibly demeaning to men.
      - bluedevil2k 7y ago
        Yes I’m sure. You’re implying that because the woman posed for Playboy she’s now “damaged goods” and less deserving of respect by society. A man dating one of these “low society women” should be looked down upon as well. If the roles were reversed, if Carly Fiorina started dating a backup dancer from Magic Mike XXL, should we judge her negatively for that?
aresant 7y ago
Hurd had taken a medical leave of absence earlier this year and it's likely that Oracle was prepared for this (1) Safra Catz, the other co-CEO, will run Oracle in the meantime. Ellison intends to appoint a new co-CEO in the near future(2) (1) https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/12/oracle-co-ceo-mark-hurd-takes-medical-leave-of-absence/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/12/oracle-co-ceo-mark-hu... (2) https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/18/former-oracle-co-ceo-mark-hurd-has-passed-away/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/18/former-oracle-co-ceo-mark-...
- deepVoid 7y ago
  It seems that Oracle was prepared to have two co-CEOs at the same time. When an emergency like this happens, the other co-CEO can take over any any time.
VonGuard 7y ago
I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably could have retired happy and rich at like 40 years old... I understand when an artist or someone creative gives their life to their work: it's an obsession that is personal. But giving your life to Oracle just for the money seems like a life wasted at that level. Even the day to day workers over there get to go home and see their families every night. At the C-level, you basically live in a private jet and never see your family... Very sad.
- bigred100 7y ago
  I agree with the sentiment and also feel like working too hard is a bad idea (in large part for the reasons you’ve outlined), but also agree that it’s not clear if this was the cause without more information.
- binarymax 7y ago
  Maybe he worked that hard, because he enjoyed working above all else? Maybe he died doing exactly what he loved?
  - walkingolof 7y ago
    Few old people looking back with perspective say that they worked to little...
    - redmaverick 7y ago
      I think people do look back and wish that they lived their lives to their full potential and took more risks.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
megiddo 7y ago
Bummer. I was at HP when he was CEO (and subsequently forced out). He was an inspiring, long-term thinker.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ScottBurson 7y ago
  Was he? I arrived at HP shortly before he left, via an acquisition. I suppose he okayed the purchase, which suggests some amount of forward-looking thought, but I also heard that he had defunded HP Labs to some extent, and that he was more into cost control than investing in new technology.
  - cogman10 7y ago
    That's what I heard. I interned there shortly after he'd left for oracle. He wasn't well liked in my department (Superdome!). IT and Ops had been completely outsourced which wasn't particularly appreciated.
    - exemployeeofhp 7y ago
      Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!
sargram01 7y ago
The article says he was a brilliant leader, anyone know what he did to be a brilliant leader specifically?
- wyxuan 7y ago
  Hurd ran sales at oracle, and many people can attest to the brilliant skill of oracle at sales, even if the underlying product wasn't as good as their competitors.
  - shakkhar 7y ago
    Hurd was already a pretty high-profile CEO before joining Oracle. Oracle was already pretty well-entrenched long before Hurd joined the company. Hurd's primary skill, IMHO, was in managing the public market.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
ycombonator 7y ago
Philosophically speaking, poof in an instant all those things that he accomplished didn’t matter when he died. He is at the same place as any random joe who died at his hospital.
- minikites 7y ago
  Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."
  - mlyle 7y ago
    Don't be so cynical.
- shadowgovt 7y ago
  That's one philosophy a person can have.
- ShorsHammer 7y ago
  His accomplishments somehow cease to exist now? Get the feeling this comment is far more reflective of the commentator than anything else. If you are worried about being judged worthless by history the best time to change that is today. The second best time is a few hours from now. This is the saddest thing I've read all week and it has nothing to do with Oracle nor Mark Hurd. It's straight up masturbatory, go achieve something if you truly wish mate, otherwise shut the fuck up and accept your lot in life like the rest of us :)
newshirt 7y ago
Tuesday - Amazon announces it is completely off of Oracle databases Thursday - Amazon announces support for RDS on VmWare Friday - Oracle announces its Co-CEO has died
todipa 7y ago
That's really sad. I've always imagined myself dying in my 80s or 90s after seeing grandchildren become adults. At the age of 62, that cuts all of that out...
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  I'd like to live a long time, but my dad is in the process of dying right now (he's 86) and it SUCKS. One of my older brothers, on the other hand, dropped dead at 59 from a "widowmaker" heart attack. I think I'd like something like the latter, but a little closer to the former age. What I can say for sure is that in my limited experience, dying of old age is a tedious, undignified, painful affair.
jkcorrea 7y ago
Obviously this is very sad news and I wish all the best & my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. I'm not very familiar with how Oracle is run, but it surprised me to see "co-CEO". I always assumed this wasn't a great way to run a company, and yet here is a major exception. Can someone enlighten me as to why Oracle chooses to have co-CEOs? Is it something specific to their business?
- sys_64738 7y ago
  Hurd dealt with the sales force while Catz focused on the financial side of it. Larry runs engineering.
- triceratops 7y ago
  They weren't co-CEOs apparently[1]. They just had different areas of authority within the company. 1. https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/18/oracle-ceo-larry-ellison-steps-down-will-be-replaced-by-mark-hurd-and-safra-catz.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/18/oracle-ceo-larry-ellison-ste...
- bradhe 7y ago
  I can't speak to why they have a co-CEO, but I'd just remind you that Oracle is a pretty exceptional company (using "exceptional" in the sense of "not like everyone else" and not in the sense of an endorsement).
  - walkingolof 7y ago
    Its windy at the top of a company, a lot of pressure and constant need to make good decisions, some companies chose to have two people that complement each other, the sum of it is larger than its parts.
- zymhan 7y ago
  It's not extremely common, but it does happen occasionally. It is a very thoroughly discussed topic though. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-major-companies-have-2-ceos-2014-9 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-major-companies-have-2-c...
Merrill 7y ago
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/oracle-grappled-for-months-over-disclosure-of-ceo-hurd-s-illness https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/oracle-gr... >Hurd, one of the company’s two CEOs, is struggling with an illness that has occasionally taken him in and out of the public eye for more than a year, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. Management’s rationale for staying silent until now centered at least in part on the depth of Oracle’s leadership bench, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing an issue the company considers private.Hurd, 62, shares the CEO title with Safra Catz, 57, a well-regarded 20-year company veteran, who previously served as finance chief and still oversees Oracle’s accounting, operations, legal and corporate development.
deleted 7y ago
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tempsy 7y ago
I see his life as a warning more than anything else. A person spending his entire adult life working non-stop, climbing the corporate ladder, and then to die so young...
- rchaud 7y ago
  It wasn't all work. Look into why he was ushered out as HP CEO.
flmontpetit 7y ago
Never Hurd of this guy
- TooCleverByHalf 7y ago
  I love HN for the fact that tired, low effort, comments like this are far less common.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
aa88990 7y ago
Mark Hurd was a lying SOB at HP. He lied to Congress about the Board leaks. He had a steel trap mind and remembered every detail of everything at HP. When Congress asked about his knowledge of the investigation of the leaks, he said"I can't remember...it was not my finest hour". Total lies!!!! He knew everything! After those lies, he proceeded to fire everyone involved that knew about his lies!!!! The Board finally fired him shortly after that for cheating on his expense reports to coverup a sexual relationship he tried to have (she rebutted him!) Regarding his death, what goes around comes around!!!!
notus 7y ago
This was the type of dude who would implement a wage freeze on his employees while taking home the biggest bonus ever recorded in history. Good riddance. The world needs less people like him. Yeah he pulled off some impressive shit at HP, but the means in which that victory was achieved are more important than the victory itself. EDIT: lol people who think they are the next Mark Hurd downvoting me, I'm amazed at how little some people care about employees on HN
- cogman10 7y ago
  I'd say he single handedly got HP in it's current non-functional state. He gutted R&D, slashed important internal departments, tried to outsource everything, etc. And with all of this, he ended up spending a billion dollars on palm, which was basically a complete waste of money. But hey, they were trendy at the time so investors loved it! (The poor palm employees that basically got shit canned). Now, HP is a shell of it's former self and collapsing under it's own weight. They don't have the people to innovate, they are actively downsizing (my current employer is hiring a lot of their talent) and all the while they are trying to bridge gaps using underpaid contractors (I got a job offer in linked-in for them at $40k... lol! That was less than I earned there as an intern!) The only people that praise hurd are those that didn't see the absolute destruction he caused to moral. But hey, he turned profits for a few years, so he must be amazing, right?
  - abawany 7y ago
    I was there around the same time; I was also involved peripherally with Superdome - saw Carly's reign and left during Hurd's. IMO he was a breath of fresh air in contrast to Carly's whatever-that-was, you are right that he turns out to have fundamentally gutted HP R&D. It was sad to see.
  - angry_octet 7y ago
    I think he rescued what was salvageable from the Carly Fiorina disaster. Absurd that she could be seen as a successful person. I think if he hadn't cut costs massively there would be no HP. His salary at the time is indefensible, but so are the salaries of most of the S&P 500. Frankly, the board firing Hurd was just dumb American sexual hypocrisy (both Hurd and the board), burnt billions in value and nearly tanked the company because he was banging someone on the company dime. I'll never understand why he didn't just pay his mistress with his own $30M salary. Perceived deniability? It's bizarre. And then Apotheker really trashed HP. Meg W, as much as I disagree with her politics, somehow got HP back to being competitive. HPE has good server and HPC/GPU products, even if the website sucks balls, and competes hard with Dell, IBM etc.
johnyy 7y ago
Guys it’s not about the CEO who spent whole time in the private jet. It’s about 1000s if families who depended on this company to bring the food on the table Profitability is the key He sacrificed for those employees his personal time.
- quaquaqua1 7y ago
  lol mark hurd took away all of our bonuses and commissions at oracle
- signaturecaptur 7y ago
  when i worked at NCR beginning during late 1989, mark hurd led a point-of-sale (POS) division effort which deprived me personally of intellectual property now worth approximately $30MM/day to the company in credit card settlement transactions. what's even worse is how they sued others e.g. verifone for vast sums, using their fabricated claim to stolen property. like his crooked & overpaid "management" buddies, mark was rewarded for what he could get away with (havoc), not what he actually created. mark's bad karma has finally caught up with him and i hope that he rots in hell!
DallasTX 7y ago
Mark Hurd is an amazing person both professionally and personally. He did and does for so many. This is a tragic loss for his family and friends. Mark is a husband, father, brother, and best friend to many. He has selflessly donated millions to great causes. A man’s life has come to an end far too early Than it should. When making comments, think of those who are hurting, in shock and grieving. RIP #markhurd
- exemployeeofhp 7y ago
  Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!
signaturesystem 7y ago
when i worked at NCR beginning during late 1989, mark hurd led a point-of-sale (POS) division effort which personally deprived me of intellectual property now worth approximately $30MM/day in credit card settlement transactions to the company. what's even worse is how they sued others e.g. verifone for vast sums, using their fabricated claim to stolen property. like his crooked & overpaid "management" buddies, they were rewarded for what they could get away with (havoc), not what they actually created. mark's bad karma has finally caught up with him and i hope that he rots in hell!
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
exemployeeofhp 7y ago
Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!
nominalguy 7y ago
Worked for the company for a Long stint. Mark’s leadership style is hmm controversial at best and many may not agree. But to die so young while at the peak is always a sad thing to anyone
nominalguy 7y ago
I had worked for the company for an extensive period and many in the company would not fall in love with the man due to his ehmmmm leadership style. But to die so young and at the peak is very sad to happen to anyone. God bless his soul
revgrant7 7y ago
I'm baffled by the focus of comments here, people sitting back and making judgements about another's life decisions. Refreshing that there isn't name calling and vitriol. I personally would not want to live the kind of high pressure work life of Mr. Hurd. For me that would be hell. Each person is responsible for their decisions, finding satisfaction in life. By my own best lights the key questions are, "Did s/he love? Were they loved in return? Did they add to greater good of the world around them?" Wielding power over others for personal gain, exploitation, that's where I'm more comfortable saying that a person's choices were harmful to self and others. Narcissism. I'm getting a big cipher here and other articles about his passing. I'm his age, so that adds another dimension to my regard here.
davidwanderer 7y ago
Life is full of choices, and Mark made his choice so who am I to criticize. I closed my laptop and drove out of SV at 42, leaving behind a CFO job at a large enterprise software company with lots of career upside. My choice was predicated on the recognition that the price one pays for this type of career success was not worth it, to me. But my values are not your values, so the important thing is to make a thoughtful, informed decision about how one wants to spend their short time here.
Flatennisplayer 7y ago
I knew Mark personally. We played tennis together in High School. My mother made dinner for him many times. All I can say is, "You can't judge a book by it's cover"
Karinchen 7y ago
When a man dedicates his life to this type of job, both he and his family know,that it is a way of life. Don't think that at this point Mark was,so much after the money, a's he was brilliant, what good does it do if you live to be 99 and you have survived cancer, lost your mind, bc of Alzheimer, swallow a lot of pills to keep yourself going, have a dull, monotonous,existence, is that so much fun and attainable. For Whom The Bell Tolls, noone can look around corners, what I know of Mark, he did what he did with passion, intensity and conviction. Although I was really sad to hear about it, he seems to have lived a fulfilled life.
Karinchen 7y ago
Mark was not liked by all at Teradata nor NCR either, at times I complained, but really looking at the big picture, there was nothing else that would have worked. When iconoclast make unpopular decisions the masses don't like it. The vision and dedication, plus simplification of complex ideas, this is so attractive, there are not that many of those around globally with the chuzpah and pioneer spirit that is what needs to be celebrated and admired. Every man has fault and makes mistakes, who is free of that, if anyone is please I want to hear from you in a New York minute. RIP Mark

Mark Hurd Has Died

204 points by big_chungus 7y ago

purpleflame1257 7y ago

Finally, Oracle's lawyers have met an adversary they can't sue... Death.

darth_skywalker 7y ago
Try to be more respectful. We're talking about a human being who died.
- asveikau 7y ago
  Condolences to Mr. Hurd's loved ones. But I think there is actually a good point behind a possibly tasteless joke. If you are overly litigious in life, or take up certain aggressive business practices, maybe the thought of death is humbling and can teach us all to relax and be kinder. I think we all know our share of living people who could use this advice.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    I have found the below quote to be helpful in this regard. “When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if we must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.”
    - clSTophEjUdRanu 7y ago
      Memento mori
    - rosstex 7y ago
      I burst into tears upon reading this comment. Thank you.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

CrankyBear 7y ago

I knew he'd taken time up for a health problem, but I sure hadn't seen this coming.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

codemac 7y ago

62 is quite young :(

wyxuan 7y ago

From his website: https://markhurd.com/announcement/ https://markhurd.com/announcement/

hodgesrm 7y ago
Good message from Larry Ellison.
gnicholas 7y ago
404 showing now.
cafard 7y ago
The link is missing an 'n' in "announcement". The link as is does work after a minute, though.
_ph_ 7y ago
Here is the correct link: https://markhurd.com/announcement/ https://markhurd.com/announcement/
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago

> Hurd settled with Fisher, who had once modeled for Playboy magazine, for undisclosed terms. The modeling for Playboy seems like a very gratuitous detail to include and doesn't seem to serve any purpose for the story.

spinach 7y ago
Cause it's easy to get the estimate of a man by the woman they date/marry.
- bluedevil2k 7y ago
  That comment is incredibly demeaning to women
  - elipsey 7y ago
    I actually can't tell who's being sarcastic here. I think that in general, if an executive has an afair with a model, that speaks to their personality or character, as choosing to date another engineer speaks to mine. If it appears mercenary, well, that seems like an expected quality in the CEO of Oracle. I aspire to conduct myself so that whenever I die I will be remembered as something more altruistic, or at least ethical than a corporate raider, or a politician who tried to sleep with his interns, etc.
  - swagtricker 7y ago
    Are you sure? I read that as being incredibly demeaning to men.
    - bluedevil2k 7y ago
      Yes I’m sure. You’re implying that because the woman posed for Playboy she’s now “damaged goods” and less deserving of respect by society. A man dating one of these “low society women” should be looked down upon as well. If the roles were reversed, if Carly Fiorina started dating a backup dancer from Magic Mike XXL, should we judge her negatively for that?

aresant 7y ago

Hurd had taken a medical leave of absence earlier this year and it's likely that Oracle was prepared for this (1) Safra Catz, the other co-CEO, will run Oracle in the meantime. Ellison intends to appoint a new co-CEO in the near future(2) (1) https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/12/oracle-co-ceo-mark-hurd-takes-medical-leave-of-absence/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/12/oracle-co-ceo-mark-hu... (2) https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/18/former-oracle-co-ceo-mark-hurd-has-passed-away/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/18/former-oracle-co-ceo-mark-...

deepVoid 7y ago
It seems that Oracle was prepared to have two co-CEOs at the same time. When an emergency like this happens, the other co-CEO can take over any any time.

VonGuard 7y ago

I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably could have retired happy and rich at like 40 years old... I understand when an artist or someone creative gives their life to their work: it's an obsession that is personal. But giving your life to Oracle just for the money seems like a life wasted at that level. Even the day to day workers over there get to go home and see their families every night. At the C-level, you basically live in a private jet and never see your family... Very sad.

bigred100 7y ago
I agree with the sentiment and also feel like working too hard is a bad idea (in large part for the reasons you’ve outlined), but also agree that it’s not clear if this was the cause without more information.
binarymax 7y ago
Maybe he worked that hard, because he enjoyed working above all else? Maybe he died doing exactly what he loved?
- walkingolof 7y ago
  Few old people looking back with perspective say that they worked to little...
  - redmaverick 7y ago
    I think people do look back and wish that they lived their lives to their full potential and took more risks.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]

megiddo 7y ago

Bummer. I was at HP when he was CEO (and subsequently forced out). He was an inspiring, long-term thinker.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ScottBurson 7y ago
Was he? I arrived at HP shortly before he left, via an acquisition. I suppose he okayed the purchase, which suggests some amount of forward-looking thought, but I also heard that he had defunded HP Labs to some extent, and that he was more into cost control than investing in new technology.
- cogman10 7y ago
  That's what I heard. I interned there shortly after he'd left for oracle. He wasn't well liked in my department (Superdome!). IT and Ops had been completely outsourced which wasn't particularly appreciated.
  - exemployeeofhp 7y ago
    Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!

sargram01 7y ago

The article says he was a brilliant leader, anyone know what he did to be a brilliant leader specifically?

wyxuan 7y ago
Hurd ran sales at oracle, and many people can attest to the brilliant skill of oracle at sales, even if the underlying product wasn't as good as their competitors.
- shakkhar 7y ago
  Hurd was already a pretty high-profile CEO before joining Oracle. Oracle was already pretty well-entrenched long before Hurd joined the company. Hurd's primary skill, IMHO, was in managing the public market.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

ycombonator 7y ago

Philosophically speaking, poof in an instant all those things that he accomplished didn’t matter when he died. He is at the same place as any random joe who died at his hospital.

minikites 7y ago
Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."
- mlyle 7y ago
  Don't be so cynical.
shadowgovt 7y ago
That's one philosophy a person can have.
ShorsHammer 7y ago
His accomplishments somehow cease to exist now? Get the feeling this comment is far more reflective of the commentator than anything else. If you are worried about being judged worthless by history the best time to change that is today. The second best time is a few hours from now. This is the saddest thing I've read all week and it has nothing to do with Oracle nor Mark Hurd. It's straight up masturbatory, go achieve something if you truly wish mate, otherwise shut the fuck up and accept your lot in life like the rest of us :)

newshirt 7y ago

Tuesday - Amazon announces it is completely off of Oracle databases Thursday - Amazon announces support for RDS on VmWare Friday - Oracle announces its Co-CEO has died

todipa 7y ago

That's really sad. I've always imagined myself dying in my 80s or 90s after seeing grandchildren become adults. At the age of 62, that cuts all of that out...

rootusrootus 7y ago
I'd like to live a long time, but my dad is in the process of dying right now (he's 86) and it SUCKS. One of my older brothers, on the other hand, dropped dead at 59 from a "widowmaker" heart attack. I think I'd like something like the latter, but a little closer to the former age. What I can say for sure is that in my limited experience, dying of old age is a tedious, undignified, painful affair.

jkcorrea 7y ago

Obviously this is very sad news and I wish all the best & my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. I'm not very familiar with how Oracle is run, but it surprised me to see "co-CEO". I always assumed this wasn't a great way to run a company, and yet here is a major exception. Can someone enlighten me as to why Oracle chooses to have co-CEOs? Is it something specific to their business?

sys_64738 7y ago
Hurd dealt with the sales force while Catz focused on the financial side of it. Larry runs engineering.
triceratops 7y ago
They weren't co-CEOs apparently[1]. They just had different areas of authority within the company. 1. https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/18/oracle-ceo-larry-ellison-steps-down-will-be-replaced-by-mark-hurd-and-safra-catz.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/09/18/oracle-ceo-larry-ellison-ste...
bradhe 7y ago
I can't speak to why they have a co-CEO, but I'd just remind you that Oracle is a pretty exceptional company (using "exceptional" in the sense of "not like everyone else" and not in the sense of an endorsement).
- walkingolof 7y ago
  Its windy at the top of a company, a lot of pressure and constant need to make good decisions, some companies chose to have two people that complement each other, the sum of it is larger than its parts.
zymhan 7y ago
It's not extremely common, but it does happen occasionally. It is a very thoroughly discussed topic though. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-major-companies-have-2-ceos-2014-9 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-major-companies-have-2-c...

Merrill 7y ago

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/oracle-grappled-for-months-over-disclosure-of-ceo-hurd-s-illness https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/oracle-gr... >Hurd, one of the company’s two CEOs, is struggling with an illness that has occasionally taken him in and out of the public eye for more than a year, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. Management’s rationale for staying silent until now centered at least in part on the depth of Oracle’s leadership bench, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing an issue the company considers private.Hurd, 62, shares the CEO title with Safra Catz, 57, a well-regarded 20-year company veteran, who previously served as finance chief and still oversees Oracle’s accounting, operations, legal and corporate development.

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tempsy 7y ago

I see his life as a warning more than anything else. A person spending his entire adult life working non-stop, climbing the corporate ladder, and then to die so young...

rchaud 7y ago
It wasn't all work. Look into why he was ushered out as HP CEO.

flmontpetit 7y ago

Never Hurd of this guy

TooCleverByHalf 7y ago
I love HN for the fact that tired, low effort, comments like this are far less common.

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aa88990 7y ago

Mark Hurd was a lying SOB at HP. He lied to Congress about the Board leaks. He had a steel trap mind and remembered every detail of everything at HP. When Congress asked about his knowledge of the investigation of the leaks, he said"I can't remember...it was not my finest hour". Total lies!!!! He knew everything! After those lies, he proceeded to fire everyone involved that knew about his lies!!!! The Board finally fired him shortly after that for cheating on his expense reports to coverup a sexual relationship he tried to have (she rebutted him!) Regarding his death, what goes around comes around!!!!

notus 7y ago

This was the type of dude who would implement a wage freeze on his employees while taking home the biggest bonus ever recorded in history. Good riddance. The world needs less people like him. Yeah he pulled off some impressive shit at HP, but the means in which that victory was achieved are more important than the victory itself. EDIT: lol people who think they are the next Mark Hurd downvoting me, I'm amazed at how little some people care about employees on HN

cogman10 7y ago
I'd say he single handedly got HP in it's current non-functional state. He gutted R&D, slashed important internal departments, tried to outsource everything, etc. And with all of this, he ended up spending a billion dollars on palm, which was basically a complete waste of money. But hey, they were trendy at the time so investors loved it! (The poor palm employees that basically got shit canned). Now, HP is a shell of it's former self and collapsing under it's own weight. They don't have the people to innovate, they are actively downsizing (my current employer is hiring a lot of their talent) and all the while they are trying to bridge gaps using underpaid contractors (I got a job offer in linked-in for them at $40k... lol! That was less than I earned there as an intern!) The only people that praise hurd are those that didn't see the absolute destruction he caused to moral. But hey, he turned profits for a few years, so he must be amazing, right?
- abawany 7y ago
  I was there around the same time; I was also involved peripherally with Superdome - saw Carly's reign and left during Hurd's. IMO he was a breath of fresh air in contrast to Carly's whatever-that-was, you are right that he turns out to have fundamentally gutted HP R&D. It was sad to see.
- angry_octet 7y ago
  I think he rescued what was salvageable from the Carly Fiorina disaster. Absurd that she could be seen as a successful person. I think if he hadn't cut costs massively there would be no HP. His salary at the time is indefensible, but so are the salaries of most of the S&P 500. Frankly, the board firing Hurd was just dumb American sexual hypocrisy (both Hurd and the board), burnt billions in value and nearly tanked the company because he was banging someone on the company dime. I'll never understand why he didn't just pay his mistress with his own $30M salary. Perceived deniability? It's bizarre. And then Apotheker really trashed HP. Meg W, as much as I disagree with her politics, somehow got HP back to being competitive. HPE has good server and HPC/GPU products, even if the website sucks balls, and competes hard with Dell, IBM etc.

johnyy 7y ago

Guys it’s not about the CEO who spent whole time in the private jet. It’s about 1000s if families who depended on this company to bring the food on the table Profitability is the key He sacrificed for those employees his personal time.

quaquaqua1 7y ago
lol mark hurd took away all of our bonuses and commissions at oracle
signaturecaptur 7y ago
when i worked at NCR beginning during late 1989, mark hurd led a point-of-sale (POS) division effort which deprived me personally of intellectual property now worth approximately $30MM/day to the company in credit card settlement transactions. what's even worse is how they sued others e.g. verifone for vast sums, using their fabricated claim to stolen property. like his crooked & overpaid "management" buddies, mark was rewarded for what he could get away with (havoc), not what he actually created. mark's bad karma has finally caught up with him and i hope that he rots in hell!

DallasTX 7y ago

Mark Hurd is an amazing person both professionally and personally. He did and does for so many. This is a tragic loss for his family and friends. Mark is a husband, father, brother, and best friend to many. He has selflessly donated millions to great causes. A man’s life has come to an end far too early Than it should. When making comments, think of those who are hurting, in shock and grieving. RIP #markhurd

exemployeeofhp 7y ago
Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!

signaturesystem 7y ago

when i worked at NCR beginning during late 1989, mark hurd led a point-of-sale (POS) division effort which personally deprived me of intellectual property now worth approximately $30MM/day in credit card settlement transactions to the company. what's even worse is how they sued others e.g. verifone for vast sums, using their fabricated claim to stolen property. like his crooked & overpaid "management" buddies, they were rewarded for what they could get away with (havoc), not what they actually created. mark's bad karma has finally caught up with him and i hope that he rots in hell!

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exemployeeofhp 7y ago

Mark Hurd...sad for his family...he was a MAJOR league asshole at work profiting at his workers expense...lest us not forget his 10% paycut for EDS employees only after the HP acquistion.....then he cheated on his expense report...his wife with a contractor...got fired for filing false expense reports with HP to cover his affair...ya not missing him much!

nominalguy 7y ago

Worked for the company for a Long stint. Mark’s leadership style is hmm controversial at best and many may not agree. But to die so young while at the peak is always a sad thing to anyone

nominalguy 7y ago

I had worked for the company for an extensive period and many in the company would not fall in love with the man due to his ehmmmm leadership style. But to die so young and at the peak is very sad to happen to anyone. God bless his soul

revgrant7 7y ago

I'm baffled by the focus of comments here, people sitting back and making judgements about another's life decisions. Refreshing that there isn't name calling and vitriol. I personally would not want to live the kind of high pressure work life of Mr. Hurd. For me that would be hell. Each person is responsible for their decisions, finding satisfaction in life. By my own best lights the key questions are, "Did s/he love? Were they loved in return? Did they add to greater good of the world around them?" Wielding power over others for personal gain, exploitation, that's where I'm more comfortable saying that a person's choices were harmful to self and others. Narcissism. I'm getting a big cipher here and other articles about his passing. I'm his age, so that adds another dimension to my regard here.

davidwanderer 7y ago

Life is full of choices, and Mark made his choice so who am I to criticize. I closed my laptop and drove out of SV at 42, leaving behind a CFO job at a large enterprise software company with lots of career upside. My choice was predicated on the recognition that the price one pays for this type of career success was not worth it, to me. But my values are not your values, so the important thing is to make a thoughtful, informed decision about how one wants to spend their short time here.

Flatennisplayer 7y ago

I knew Mark personally. We played tennis together in High School. My mother made dinner for him many times. All I can say is, "You can't judge a book by it's cover"

Karinchen 7y ago

When a man dedicates his life to this type of job, both he and his family know,that it is a way of life. Don't think that at this point Mark was,so much after the money, a's he was brilliant, what good does it do if you live to be 99 and you have survived cancer, lost your mind, bc of Alzheimer, swallow a lot of pills to keep yourself going, have a dull, monotonous,existence, is that so much fun and attainable. For Whom The Bell Tolls, noone can look around corners, what I know of Mark, he did what he did with passion, intensity and conviction. Although I was really sad to hear about it, he seems to have lived a fulfilled life.

Karinchen 7y ago

Mark was not liked by all at Teradata nor NCR either, at times I complained, but really looking at the big picture, there was nothing else that would have worked. When iconoclast make unpopular decisions the masses don't like it. The vision and dedication, plus simplification of complex ideas, this is so attractive, there are not that many of those around globally with the chuzpah and pioneer spirit that is what needs to be celebrated and admired. Every man has fault and makes mistakes, who is free of that, if anyone is please I want to hear from you in a New York minute. RIP Mark