Oracle is reshaping its leadership as it leans deeper into artificial intelligence infrastructure, with long-time chief executive Safra Catz stepping aside and two senior leaders taking the reins. The company announced on Monday that Clay Magouyrk, who leads its data center business, and Mike Sicilia, head of applications, will serve as co-chief executives. Catz will transition into the role of executive vice-chair of the board, ending her decade-long run as sole CEO.
The decision arrives during a period of historic growth for Oracle. The company’s latest quarterly results showed strong demand from AI start-ups and large technology firms seeking powerful data center capacity. Oracle shares have climbed more than 80 percent this year, briefly lifting founder Larry Ellison above Elon Musk on the global wealth rankings.
Magouyrk, 39, joined Oracle from Amazon in 2014 and has been central to its cloud expansion. Sicilia, 51, has guided the applications division as the company pivoted toward a broader software and infrastructure portfolio. Ellison emphasized that his long partnership with Catz will continue, describing the transition as part of a strategy to sustain Oracle’s momentum in the cloud era.
Catz told analysts she remains deeply engaged with Oracle and wanted the leadership shift to occur at a moment of strength. During her tenure, she helped secure contracts with firms like OpenAI, which relies heavily on Oracle’s servers to train large language models. A landmark $300 billion deal tied to the Stargate project has positioned Oracle as one of the most prominent providers of AI infrastructure.
The move also revives a structure Oracle used in the past, when Catz shared the CEO role with Mark Hurd following Ellison’s departure in 2014. Hurd’s death in 2019 left her as sole chief executive until now.
Additional changes accompanied the announcement. Mark Hura, head of North America sales, will lead global field operations, while Doug Kehring, executive vice-president of operations, will take on the role of principal financial officer.
Oracle sees the change of leadership at the top as a dual message on the one hand, the continuity of the company’s traditional approach through the retention of its main leadership members and on the other hand, the need to respond rapidly to the evolving market with the help of AI.
