Oracle cloud head steps down after 'extended leave'

Thomas Kurian, cloud head of business software maker Oracle Corp., has resigned from his position after his division dismayed investors with results.

Moreover, the company had also changed the way it reported its cloud numbers for the June quarter by adding licensing support to the mix. This was seen by many as a sign of weakness or stalling growth in the division.

In early September, Kurian, who hails from the village of Pampady near Kottayam town in Kerala, said he was going on an extended leave. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had then quoted a spokesperson as saying that the executive would return soon. The company, in a filing to the US' Securities and Exchange Commission, said that Kurian, whose title was president of product development, is leaving the firm to pursue other opportunities. 

Kurian, who studied electrical engineering at Princeton University, reported to chief technology officer (CTO) Larry Ellison, instead of co-chief executives Safra Catz and Mark Hurd. 

Interestingly, a report in The Times of India report claimed that Kurian's departure came because of a dispute with Ellison. The CTO was opposed to Kurian's proposal of Oracle making its own software available on rival cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.

Kurian, in the financial year that ended in May, received $35.76 million in total compensation, WSJ reported.

In terms of cloud, Oracle is trying to catch up with rivals such as Google, AWS, Microsoft and IBM. The company is offering newer services via its autonomous platform and has started a universal credit system which allows customers to pay on the go for whatever service they choose.