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PeopleSoft Founder: "I Didn't Come Back...to Sell to Oracle"

"PeopleSoft CEO to be Larry Ellison for Halloween?" ask industry commentators

"I didn't come back here to sell to Oracle," PeopleSoft co-founder Dave Duffield, who replaced Craig Conway as CEO after the PeopleSoft board delivered its ouster to Conway, wrote in a company-wide memo this week.

"Rather, I'm here to beat Oracle in the marketplace, increase our revenues, re-energize our employees, and deliver greater long-term value to our shareholders," Duffield (pictured below) continued. 

He is PeopleSoft's largest individual shareholder.

This hasn't stopped industry commentators from speculating: "PeopleSoft CEO to be Larry Ellison for Halloween?" (this was the rhetorical question asked SiliconValley.com's John Paczkowski, for example).

On Thursday PeopleSoft Inc. was able to announce better-than-expected results: a return to profit in the third quarter - compared to the third quarter last year.

The company reported third-quarter net income of $24 million (6 cents per share) compared with a loss of $7.3 million (2 cents a share) a year earlier. Those earlier poor results were the result of taking charges related to its purchase of software maker J.D. Edwards.

Revenues were $699 million, up 12 percent from a year earlier. Interestingly, license revenue, a measure of new business and often considered a key metric for software companies, was $161 million, compared with $160.5 million last year.

More Stories By Jeremy Geelan

Jeremy Geelan is Sr. Vice-President of SYS-CON Media & Events. He is Conference Chair of the all-new International Cloud Computing Expo series, of the International Virtualization Expo series, of AJAXWorld RIA Conference & Expo series, and of the long-running SOAWorld Conference & Expo series. He's founder of Cloud Computing Journal, Web 2.0 Journal, AJAX & RIA Journal and other leading SYS-CON titles. From 2000-6, as first editorial director and then group publisher of SYS-CON Media, he was responsible for the development of all new titles and i-Technology portals for the firm, and regularly represents SYS-CON at conferences and trade shows, speaking to technology audiences both in North America and overseas. He is executive producer and presenter of "Power Panels with Jeremy Geelan" on SYS-CON.TV.

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Most Recent Comments
techwiz1996 10/23/04 07:26:55 AM EDT

The thing I dislike about Larry Ellison is that he wants to destroy a going concern and disrupt many, many lives (mine included) for his own personal gain. While this is the way and current state of business in this country, I believe it to be wrong. It is short sighted and will lead to us all flipping burgers for each other.

kimzachan 10/23/04 07:24:37 AM EDT

It is a joke. Craig Conway and PeopleSoft delivered this strong result, not Dave Duffield.

Dave taking over CEO role for less than a week.