"Sun Microsystems announced Monday that its longtime chief executive Scott McNealy is stepping down from the helm and will be succeeded by the struggling computer and software company's No. 2 executive, Jonathan Scwhartz. McNealy, 51, a Silicon Valley luminary for years, will continue as chairman of the company he co-founded in 1982. Schwartz, 40, will keep the title of president," reports The Mercury News.
The announcement came with the quarter's financial results, where Sun lost $217 million, up from a net loss of $28 million in the same quarter last year. Sales climbed 21% to $3.2 billion including the takeover of StorageTek.
According to Bloomberg:
"It's what the market wanted to see," said John Buckingham, who oversees $875 million at Al Frank Asset Management Inc. in Laguna Beach, California, including Sun shares. "McNealy was a hero in the late '90s, but he's a goat today."
Comment: McNealy was a target following years of losses because some outsiders think Sun needs to cut up to a third of its 38,000 staff, to reduce expenses, and McNealy wasn't going to do that. Whether the change of power will make much difference is anyone's guess: Scott will still be Sun's chairman and will no doubt continue to attract press attention for his Motormouth act.
