Sun Microsystems Inc. lost another key executive Wednesday when the company announced the departure of Patricia Sueltz, formerly executive vice president of Sun Services.
Sueltz, 51, left Sun for Salesforce.com, where she will assume the position of president of marketing, technology and systems. Sueltz is scheduled to begin her tenure at Salesforce.com Thursday, Sun officials said.
Sueltz was once considered a possible successor to Sun chief executive Scott McNealy, sources close to Sun said.
In a statement, McNealy said: “Pat has played an important role in transforming Sun Services model to deliver system solutions and complete life-cycle services to our customers. We wish Pat well in her new venture and look forward to continuing our relationship with her, in her upcoming role as a partner and customer of Sun.”
Sueltz follows other Sun executives who have recently exited the company. Barbara Gordon, former vice president of worldwide sales, left Sun for Microsoft Corp. at the end of last year. And Bill Joy, a Sun co-founder and chief scientist, left the company last September.
However, Sun regained one of its favorite sons when it acquired Kealia Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., earlier this month. With the acquisition Sun rehired Andy Bechtolsheim, a Sun co-founder who left the company in 1995. Bechtolsheim was president and chief executive of Kealia.