Mark Evans

Greg Maffei Bails from Oracle

While most folks in the U.S. know Greg Maffei
as Microsoft's ex-CFO, here in Canada, he's the former CEO of
360Networks, who came on board just before the telecom boom ended, and
ended up steering the company through bankruptcy protection. Shortly
after he started to come out of hiding at 360 and granted media
interviews, Maffei was hired as Oracle's CFO.
It seemed like a good fit given his investment banking and M&A
experience. Five months later, however, Maffei gone because he's
looking at a “terrific professional opportunity”. Venture Chronicles
said Maffei was Oracle's fifth CFO since January 2004. Yikes! Everyone
is allowed to make a mis-step, particulary when it involves working for
Larry Ellison. So what's up with Maffei? I'm willing to wager he's
taking a CEO position with a software maker. After you've been the boss
- even with a struggling telco - it's hard to become #2 or #3.