Oracle’s Thomas Kurian Is at Odds With Larry Ellison on Cloud
- Disagreement centers on cloud strategy, people familiar say
- Software maker says executive’s time off is temporary
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Oracle Corp. executive Thomas Kurian’s leave of absence, disclosed last week, stemmed from differences with co-founder Larry Ellison over the software maker’s cloud business, according to people familiar with the matter.
The growing strife between Kurian, president of product development, and Executive Chairman Ellison culminated in Kurian’s announcement on Sept. 5 that he’s taking a break, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Kurian wants Oracle to make more of its software available to run on public clouds from chief rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. as a way to diversify from its own struggling infrastructure, a view opposed by Ellison, one of the people said.