Safra Catz | |
---|---|
Born | Safra Ada Catz December 1, 1961 Holon, Israel |
Citizenship | United States |
Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA, JD) |
Occupation | CEO of Oracle |
Spouse | Gal Tirosh |
Children | 2 |
Safra Ada Catz (Hebrew: צפרא עדה כץ; born December 1, 1961) is an American billionaire banker and technology executive. She is the CEO of Oracle Corporation. She has been an executive at Oracle since April 1999, and a board member since 2001. In April 2011, she was named co-president and chief financial officer (CFO), reporting to founder Larry Ellison.[1] In September 2014, Oracle announced that Ellison would step down as CEO and that Mark Hurd and Catz had been named as joint CEOs.[2] In September 2019, Catz became the sole CEO after Hurd resigned due to health issues.[3]
Early life
Catz was born in Holon, Israel,[4] to Jewish parents.[5][6] Her father was an immigrant from Romania.[7] She moved from Israel to Brookline, Massachusetts at the age of six.
Catz graduated from Brookline High School.[8] She earned a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.[4][9]
Career
Catz was a banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette,[10] serving as a managing director from February 1997 to March 1999 and a senior vice president from January 1994 to February 1997 and previously held various investment banking positions since 1986. In 1999, Catz joined Oracle as senior vice president. She has been a non-executive director of Oracle subsidiary Hyperion Solutions since April 2007.[11] She has been a member of the executive council of TechNet since March 2013. She was a director of PeopleSoft Inc since December 2004 and Stellent Inc. since December 2006.[12][13]
Catz joined Oracle Corporation in April 1999.[1] Catz became a member of the company's board of directors in October 2001 and president in early 2004.[1][14] She is credited for having driven Oracle's 2005 efforts to acquire software rival PeopleSoft in a $10.3 billion takeover.[10] Catz is also the company's CFO, serving temporarily in that role from November 2005 to September 2008, and from April 2011 to the present.[1] Mark Hurd joined her as co-president in 2010.[1] In December 2019, Oracle stated that Catz would be the sole CEO after Hurd's death.[15]
In 2009 she was ranked by Fortune as the 12th most powerful woman in business.[8] In 2009 she was ranked by Forbes as the 16th most powerful businesswoman.[16] In 2014, she was ranked 24th.[17] According to an Equilar analysis published by Fortune, she was in 2011 the highest-paid woman among Fortune 1000 companies, receiving an estimated US$51,695,742 in total remuneration.[18]
Catz is a lecturer in accounting at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[19] Catz was a director of HSBC from 2008 to 2015.[20]
After the election of Donald Trump, Catz was one of several high-profile CEOs, including Tim Cook, Sheryl Sandberg and Jeff Bezos, invited to talk with the then president-elect about potentially taking up a position in the incoming administration.[21] According to Bloomberg, she was considered for the post of U.S. Trade Representative or Director of National Intelligence.[21]
Catz is the highest paid female CEO of any U.S. company as of April 2017, earning $40.9 million after a 23% drop in her total compensation relative to 2016.[22]
Catz was elected to the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in December 2017, effective February 2018.[23]
In March 2022 she was appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas[24]
Political involvement
During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Catz donated to the campaign of Marco Rubio.[25] She later served on President Trump's transition team,[26][27] and media outlets frequently mentioned her as a potential official in the Trump administration.[28][29][25]
Personal life
Catz is married to Gal Tirosh and they have two sons.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e Oracle Co-President Safra Catz Adds CFO Duties as Jeff Epstein Leaves, an April 25, 2011, article from allthingsd.com
- ^ "Oracle Board Appoints Larry Ellison Executive Chairman and CTO. Safra Catz and Mark Hurd Appointed CEO". Oracle Corporation. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Sayer, Peter (October 18, 2019). "Oracle Co-CEO Mark Hurd dies". CIO. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ a b c Rochelle Garner (December 19, 2006). "Heir apparent at Oracle is credited with growth strategy". International Herald Tribune.
- ^ Ruth Eglash (August 23, 2012). "Jewish women who rule! (according to Forbes)". Jpost. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ Jewish Voice New York: "The World's Most Powerful Jewish Women" By Jen Levey September 5, 2012.
- ^ Chirileasa, Andrei (May 20, 2014). "Oracle CFO Safra Catz announces expansion outside Bucharest, reveals Romanian origins". Romania-Insider.com. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
- ^ a b Lashinsky, Adam (September 28, 2009). "The Enforcer". Fortune. 160 (6): 117–124.
- ^ "Oracle's enforcer – Safra Catz".
- ^ a b Safra Catz from the Forbes 2005 list of The Most Powerful Women. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ^ "ORCL Safra Ada Catz Insider Trades for Oracle Corp". marketwatch.com. May 22, 2023.
- ^ Workday's $10B plan to outsell Oracle. Accounting Today. https://www.accountingtoday.com/articles/workdays-10b-plan-to-outsell-oracle-in-hr-software
- ^ Quiénes son las madres tecnológicas más poderosas del mundo, by Desiree Jaimovich. Infobae. https://www.infobae.com/tecno/2016/10/16/quienes-son-las-madres-tecnologicas-mas-poderosas-del-mundo/
- ^ Safra A. Catz | Executive Biography from Oracle.com
- ^ Grant, Nico (December 12, 2019). "Safra Catz to Remain Sole Oracle CEO After Mark Hurd's Death". Fortune. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ "The 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes.com. August 19, 2009.
- ^ "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Forbes. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- ^ "25 highest-paid women – Safra A. Catz". Fortune. CNNMoney. September 27, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012. [needs update]
- ^ "Stanford GSB: Safra A. Catz". Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ Szu Ping Chan and Tim Wallace (November 13, 2015). "HSBC board shake-up brings former Diageo boss Paul Walsh aboard". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b "Trump Team Talked to Oracle's Safra Catz About an Administration Post". Bloomberg.com. April 12, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ^ Keitz, Anders (April 23, 2017). "Oracle's Safra Catz is Highest Paid Female CEO". TheStreet. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ^ James, Meg (December 7, 2017). "Disney adds two board members from tech world". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
- ^ "Homeland Security Advisory Council Members". DHS. March 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ a b Darrow, Barb (November 17, 2016). "Trump Is Considering This High-Tech Exec for Cabinet Post". Fortune. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ Conger, Kate. "Oracle CEO Safra Catz joins Trump Transition Team". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ Solon, Olivia (December 21, 2016). "Oracle executive publicly resigns after CEO joins Trump's transition team". The Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ Jaffe, Alexandra; Rafferty, Andrew (November 17, 2016). "Romney May Be in, Gingrich Out of Trump Cabinet". NBC News.
- ^ "Report: Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz could replace McMaster as Trump's National Security Adviser". Silicon Valley Business Journal. March 2, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.