Sun CEO Upbeat in Goodbye Letter

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, who has been virtually invisible since JavaOne last June, sent a memo to Sun Microsystems staffers, striking a rah-rah tone and bidding those who will keep their jobs good luck as Oracle employees.

Schwartz has largely been a non-entity on the Sun campus as the firm treaded water, waiting for the interminable delays in the merger with Oracle to work themselves out. He did explicitly not say what his future holds, whether he will come over to Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) or leave, but publicly-disclosed compensation reports filed with the SEC have indicated he is indeed leaving with one year’s salary, around $11 million.

The merger — now approaching its tenth month, longer than human gestation — finally received European Union approval on Thursday but still has to get past Russian and Chinese antitrust officials and they might just throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

For now, Oracle is going forward with an event at its Redwood Shores, Calif. headquarters next week with Sun executives still onboard to detail plans for the integrated company.

In his memo, which Sun officials have confirmed as originating from Schwartz, he recounted his tenure at the company and the accomplishments of various departments.

“I can say with conviction that Sun’s people have always stood apart as the brightest, most passionate, and most inspiring. I’ve never had a bad day in my thirteen years for one very basic reason – I’ve always been surrounded by the best and brightest individuals I’ve ever come across. That’s been an honor and privilege, for which I’m enormously thankful,” said Schwartz.

He then made some comments to all of Sun’s employees, both those not staying post-merger and those set to join Oracle. Here are those remarks:


For those that ultimately won’t become a part of Oracle, this will be the first step in a new adventure. Sun has a tremendous reputation across the planet, well beyond Silicon Valley. It’s a great brand to have on your resume. We’re known as self-starters, capable of ethically managing through complexity and change, for delivering when called upon, and for inventing and building the future. With the world economy stabilizing, I’m very confident you’ll land on your feet. You’re a talented, tenacious group, and there’s always opportunity for great people.

For those that have roles at Oracle, may you start with a clean slate, ready to take on the myriad opportunities ahead. With the same passion and tenacity for Oracle’s success that you’ve had for Sun’s, and a renewed sense of energy around executing on a far broader mission. There is no doubt in my mind you, and Oracle, will be remarkably successful, beyond the market’s wildest expectations. But it’s important you come to work thinking, “Sun is a brand, Oracle’s my company.” Don’t look for ways to preserve or dwell in “how we used to do things.” Look for ways to help customers, grow the market, and improve Oracle’s performance.

Sun is a brand, Oracle is your company.

And to that end, with nine months of getting to know them, I’ve found Oracle to be truly remarkable, led by remarkable people. From Larry on down, they understand the enormity of the opportunity before them, and they’re more than prepared to execute on it – across the board. I’ve seen their commitment and focus, now they need yours. I’m confident you’ll give it the 10,000% effort it deserves – and we’ll all see the end result.

So thank you, again, for the privilege and honor of working together. The internet’s made the world a far smaller place – so I’m sure we’ll be bumping into one another.

Go Oracle!

Jonathan

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