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Mark Hurd Has Died

cnbc.com

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Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#141

Post by tyre »

clavalle wrote: post #98
VonGuard wrote: post #15

I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably cou…

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

> the best

The best at what? I think that’s the real existential question. The best at making money? Okay. Maybe I’m not as interested in having “created significant shareholder value” on my gravestone.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#142

Post by johannes1234321 »

jkcorrea wrote: post #31

Obviously this is very sad news and I wish all the best & my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. I'm not very familiar with how Oracle is run, but it surprised me to see "co-CEO". I always assumed this wasn't a great way to run a company, and yet here is a major exception. Can someone enlighten me as to why Oracle chooses to have co-CEOs? Is it something specific to their business?

After HP fired Hurd Oracle/Larry Ellison hired him. A bit later Larry Ellison gave up his role as CEO but staying President of the Board and CTO and the CEO job was split between Safra Catz (financial side) and Mark Hurd (sales, marketing) and the three of them worked together splitting the responsibilities.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#143

Post by ScottBurson »

megiddo wrote: post #16

Bummer. I was at HP when he was CEO (and subsequently forced out). He was an inspiring, long-term thinker.

Was he? I arrived at HP shortly before he left, via an acquisition. I suppose he okayed the purchase, which suggests some amount of forward-looking thought, but I also heard that he had defunded HP Labs to some extent, and that he was more into cost control than investing in new technology.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#144

Post by flatline »

tyre wrote: post #141
clavalle wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

> the best The best at what? I think that’s the real existential question. The best at making money? Okay. Maybe I’m not as interested in having “created significant shareholder value” on my gravestone.

There's a human factor to all of this. An executive's day is not (typically) spent coding, or looking at spreadsheets, or analyzing forecasts. Those may be parts of an executive's job, but the bread and butter is working with people. Coordinating other's efforts - whether to maximize shareholder value, build a particle accelerator, make a movie, market useless crap to consumers, or whatever - involves a lot of dealing with people, successfully navigating complex interpersonal relationships, making compromises, etc. Some people really thrive on this and derive joy from the work itself. I personally find it exhausting, as I suspect do a large number of the people who frequent HN.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#145

Post by jeffshek »

johnpowell wrote: post #86
eigenvalue wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without knowing the cause of death, I think it's premature to say that he worked himself to death. It was probably some kind of cancer that probably would have happened anyway. The bigger question I think is, if he could do it over again, would he have tried to spend more of his short time on earth with his family and relaxing/enjoying life rather than working? And even that is not so clear cut-- it may well be that…

Last year I was diagnosed with neck/mouth cancer. I did three months of radiation and chemo and it cleared it up. Then two months later I went in for a PET scan and the cancer had spread to my liver. So more ration for that. Then six months later another PET scan and the cancer popped up in a new place on my liver. I'm currently on Pembrolizumab and my oncologist wants to give that a few months and see how the lesion…

Thank you for writing this. Regardless of what happens, I hope you find the time to create something with your woodworking and upload it somewhere for rest of us to see what you've been working on.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#146

Post by [deleted] »

_lbaq wrote: post #137
chrisseaton wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tons of people look back and wish they achieved more and pushed themselves to their potential.

Took more "risks" yes, worked harder? No, the most interesting people I meet in my life hardly work even 40 hours, let alone 60 or 80 hour weeks, they know what important and not...

[deleted]

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#147

Post by quaquaqua1 »

johnyy wrote: post #124

Guys it’s not about the CEO who spent whole time in the private jet. It’s about 1000s if families who depended on this company to bring the food on the table Profitability is the key He sacrificed for those employees his personal time.

lol mark hurd took away all of our bonuses and commissions at oracle

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#148

Post by sq1020 »

johnpowell wrote: post #86
eigenvalue wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without knowing the cause of death, I think it's premature to say that he worked himself to death. It was probably some kind of cancer that probably would have happened anyway. The bigger question I think is, if he could do it over again, would he have tried to spend more of his short time on earth with his family and relaxing/enjoying life rather than working? And even that is not so clear cut-- it may well be that…

Last year I was diagnosed with neck/mouth cancer. I did three months of radiation and chemo and it cleared it up. Then two months later I went in for a PET scan and the cancer had spread to my liver. So more ration for that. Then six months later another PET scan and the cancer popped up in a new place on my liver. I'm currently on Pembrolizumab and my oncologist wants to give that a few months and see how the lesion…

Totally agree with you on the dangers of free time. We, as humans, were designed to do things. I hope your condition improves and thanks for your comment!

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#149

Post by bryanrasmussen »

VonGuard wrote: post #15

I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably cou…

I didn't know who he was or anything, but I read the article.

I didn't notice anything about being a workaholic, so at the end of it I have to assume he worked as hard at his job as any other CEO? So are you just saying that CEOs work too hard, too many hours? I'm not disagreeing necessarily I would just like to know how many hours and how hard it is exactly because I couldn't find it in the article?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#150

Post by cogman10 »

ScottBurson wrote: post #143
megiddo wrote: post #16

Bummer. I was at HP when he was CEO (and subsequently forced out). He was an inspiring, long-term thinker.

Was he? I arrived at HP shortly before he left, via an acquisition. I suppose he okayed the purchase, which suggests some amount of forward-looking thought, but I also heard that he had defunded HP Labs to some extent, and that he was more into cost control than investing in new technology.

That's what I heard. I interned there shortly after he'd left for oracle.

He wasn't well liked in my department (Superdome!). IT and Ops had been completely outsourced which wasn't particularly appreciated.

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