About time: Scott McNealy steps down as Sun CEO

April 24, 2006 | Matt Marshall | Comments | |

Updated

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This comes after years of speculation, which has mounted since the fabled Silicon Valley server company seemed to run out of gas. We had to pinch ourselves, but there it is right on the Internet: Sun changes its management bio web page to put Jonathan schwartz in number one position as pres & ceo, with Scott Mcnealy demoted to second place as chairman.

Update: The Merc’s story Wednesday about Schwartz, and how he does not plan to cut jobs as deeply as some on Wall Street are calling for.

Update II: The Merc’s original story Tuesday about the stepping down.

Update III: Our colleague Langberg on how McNealy lost credibility.

Update IV: Here’s a video of a noteworthy retrospective event, held in Mountain View in January by the four founders of Sun.

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  • EJ Passeos
    Good Morning.
    Nice and important post (I would have enjoyed more commnentary about Mr. McNealy).
    Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for last week reporting this fact--that McNealy denied in an e-mail repsonse.
    What will be Mr. McNealy's legacy?
    Seemingly, Sun is still in very sorry shape. The Journal article noted that Wall Street still feels that major changes are needed there. This means job cuts. McNealy could have appointed someone or done this himself, instead he fought silly battles like suing Microsoft.
    My thoughts on Sun are that they are a dying company. As I understand the tech world, it is increasing relying on non-Sun products to power websites. This means open source software and low-cost pcs.
    If that is indeed true, then McNealy should not be admired for leaving his beloved company while it is facing an uncertain future.
    Thanks again for the post.
    EJ Passeos
  • Thanks EJ.

    I've since updated the post with links to more commentary/news.

    Matt