Bloomberg News
Thomas Kurian, a top Oracle Corp. executive leading efforts to expanding its cloud-computing business, said he is taking “extended time off” from the company.
Kurian, whose title is president of product development, is among the most powerful executives at Oracle ORCL, -0.20% and its top technical leader after Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison. He has reported directly to Ellison, not the company’s co-chiefs, Safra Catz and Mark Hurd.
Kurian joined Oracle in 1996 and has led software development as the company races to build its cloud-computing operations. In February, Oracle disclosed plans to quadruple its number of giant data-center complexes over the next two years to chip away at the lead of cloud competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.43% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.04%
Kurian’s departure comes after Oracle has unnerved investors with lower-than-expected results in cloud computing. In June, the company changed the way it reports results, mixing its cloud revenue with licensing support, which one analyst said could obfuscate weakness in its cloud business. An Oracle spokeswoman declined to say why Kurian is taking leave or who might replace him during his absence. She said the company expects the executive “to return soon.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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