McNealy, Schwartz Bid Sun Employees Good-Bye

One of the mysteries surrounding the final makeup of Oracle and Sun Microsystems now that the merger is approved seems to be solved: Chairman Scott McNealy and President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz appear to be stepping down.

The online news site All Things Digital, a sister organization of the Wall Street Journal, reported on Tuesday that both McNealy and Schwartz are leaving the company that they have led for many years.

McNealy and Schwartz both used internal memos to Sun employees to announce their decisions and set the stage for the company to become a part of Oracle, according to the memos, copies of which were received by Channelweb.com.

In a memo dated Tuesday, McNealy told the Sun employees to embrace the coming move to Oracle "with all of the enthusiasm and class and talent that we have to offer."

McNealy wrote that it is hard to sum up his thoughts in a single message to the Sun community -- "Even for a big mouth who is always ready with a clever quip."

McNealy wrote that the last four years since he resigned as CEO at Sun have "not been without serious withdrawal," and that the European Union's approval process of the acquisition was difficult.

"Sun in my mind should have been the great and surviving consolidator. But I love the market economy and capitalism more than I love my company. And I sure "hope" America regains its love affair with capitalism. And except for the auto industry, financial industry, health care, and some other places (I digress), the invisible hand is doing its thing quite efficiently. So I am more than willing to accept this outcome. And my hat is off to one of the greatest capitalists I have ever met, Larry Ellison. He will do well with the assets that Sun brings to Oracle," he wrote.

Sun made mistakes, McNealy wrote. But it innovated like crazy, cared about its customers, and "did not cheat, lie, or break the rule of law or decency."

He closed with, "Kick butt and have fun!"

Schwartz, in his memo dated Thursday, January 21, wrote that the interim period since Oracle first said it wants to acquire Sun has been difficult on Sun's employees, partners, and customers.

Schwartz wrote that Sun's technology has changed the world, and called McNealy the "Henry Ford of the technology industry" because of Sun's ability to make innovation accessible to anyone.

With the acquisition, Schwartz told Sun employees they need to emotionally resign from Sun. "Go home, light a candle, and let go of the expectations and assumptions that defined Sun as a workplace. Honor and remember them, but let them go," he wrote.

For employees who will not be a part of Oracle, Schwartz told them that they will land on their feet because of their Sun experience. For those moving to Oracle, he wrote it's important to remember, "Sun is a brand, Oracle's my company."

He ended his memo, "Go Oracle!"