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The Station reported on Jan. 26 that Sun Microsystems Chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy and CEO Jonathan Schwartz would not be moving to the newly combined Oracle Sun organization, which plans to become an important player in the next-generation storage market.
McNealy sent an email that day to all current and many former Sun employees saying goodbye and good luck, while rambling a bit about his 28 years in leadership at the company. He’s entitled to a bit of a ramble; his company became one of the most creative and influential IT companies ever during his tenure as CEO.
Schwartz, who has been the most low-profile Sun executive during the nine-month-long acquisition process, wrote a short blog item the next day, Jan. 27. “There’s not a doubt in my mind Oracle’s takeoff and ascent will be fast and dramatic. I wish the combined entity the best of luck … ” Schwartz wrote.
Schwartz then came back early on Feb. 4 with a simple note via Twitter: “Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more”.
Sun’s problems can be traced to far more than the economic crisis of 2008-09, but let’s not go there at this time. Schwartz, McNealy and Sun made some huge IT discoveries and important products — but it also made big mistakes and miscalculations. For better or worse, Sun now moves on and morphs with another under a new banner — only about 15 miles to the north via Highway 101.
Schwartz said McNealy are smart guys, and they’re way too young to simply disappear from the IT world. We’ll keep an eye on what they do next.