Oracle Shares Down 3% After Ellison Steps Down As CEO

Shares of Oracle were down as much as 3% in after hours trade on Thursday after the company announced the CEO Larry Ellison would be stepping down.

Ellison will be taking a role as executive chairman and CTO.

Oracle also announced that both Safra Catz and Mark Hurd will serve as CEO of the company.

The company also reported earnings and revenue that missed expectations.

Oracle reported earnings per share of $0.62 against expectations for $0.64, according to data from Thomson Reuters. Revenue in the quarter also came in light at $8.6 billion against expectations for $8.78 billion.

Here's the full release from Oracle regarding its executive moves.

REDWOOD SHORES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/18/14 -- The Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) Board of Directors today announced that it has elected Larry Ellison to the position of Executive Chairman of Oracle's Board and appointed him the company's Chief Technology Officer. Jeff Henley, who has served as Oracle's Chairman for the last 10 years, was appointed Oracle's Vice Chairman of the Board.

The Oracle Board also promoted both Safra Catz and Mark Hurd to the position of CEO, Oracle Corporation. All manufacturing, finance, and legal functions will continue to report to Oracle CEO, Safra Catz. All sales, service and vertical industry global business units will continue to report to Oracle CEO, Mark Hurd. All software and hardware engineering functions will continue to report to Oracle Chairman and CTO, Larry Ellison.

"Safra and Mark will now report to the Oracle Board rather than to me," said Larry Ellison. "All the other reporting relationships will remain unchanged. The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine."

"Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy," said the Oracle Board's Presiding Director, Dr. Michael Boskin. "Safra and Mark are exceptional executives who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to lead, manage and grow the company. The Directors are thrilled that the best senior executive team in the industry will continue to move the company forward into a bright future."