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Richard Green, the Sun Microsystems Inc. executive who left the company last week following Suns landmark settlement with Microsoft Corp., has moved to Cassatt Corp., a startup that focuses on enterprise infrastructure software.
Green, most recently vice president of Sun developer platforms and Java software, worked at Sun for 14 years and now joins San Jose, Calif.-based Cassatt as executive vice president of product development.
Green joined Cassatt at the behest of Bill Coleman, the companys chief executive. Coleman also is a co-founder of BEA Systems Inc. and a former colleague of Greens at Sun in the early 90s.
“I have known Rich since our days together at Sun, and I have followed his many successes,” Coleman said in a statement. “He brings a wealth of world-class expertise in software development for the enterprise that is crucial to helping our customers get the most value out of their technology infrastructure investment.”
Colemans executive team also includes Sunir Kapoor, founder of E-Stamp and a former vice president at Oracle Corp.; and Mark Forman, a former CIO for the federal government, where he served as the administrator of the Office of Management and Budgets E-Government and Information Technology.
Sources said Green was simply ready for a change and that his departure had nothing to do with the Sun-Microsoft deal. In fact, he had tendered his resignation from Sun weeks before the deal was announced, but he stayed to see the deal through, sources said.
Green was a vocal proponent of Java and Sun at trade shows and also in the courtroom, testifying against Microsoft in various cases. And according to many, he helped craft the settlement with Microsoft.
James Gosling, the creator of Java and the chief technology officer of Suns Developer Products group, addressed rumors that Green left Sun in disgust. In his Weblog this week, Gosling wrote, “This is unbelievably far from the truth. Rich Green was my boss, I was with him day after day. Rich worked very hard to make this agreement happen. He left in relief, happy that things were settled in a way that left him with a clear conscience and a sense of closure.
“In fact, he (and I, and many others) felt that concluding the suit was good for Sun, good for the industry and good for the Java community. He left for entirely independent reasons that have nothing to do with Sun and had really been hanging in to make sure that the court cases got settled right. He still has good relationships with everyone at Sun and left on a very friendly basis. He will be missed by all of us and will remain a visible presence in the industry.”