At 10:05 a.m. Pacific time today, Sun Microsystems' fate was sealed. At that exact moment, shareholder voting closed, and the motion to accept the acquisition offer from Oracle was approved. There was little fanfare. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, and Scott McNealy, its chairman, were both absent. Schwartz was said to be sick. I can't help but think it was psychosomatic.
As the meeting began, a room full of old folks, suited investors and a healthy helping of Sun employees quietly took their seats and chatted politely amongst one another. When Craig Norris, vice president of corporate law and assistant secretary took the stage, the room went silent. As the brief call for votes took place, the room was dead quiet, save for the click click click of investor-relations women walking in their high heels from investor to investor, collecting ballots.
The whole event took less than 10 minutes. And when it was over, most folks quietly funneled out of the room, looking vaguely dejected.
There are many more bureaucratic hurdles for the acquisition and mountains of paperwork to be completed, to be sure. But make no mistake about it: This was the last real day of Sun's existence. The acquisition itself has already happened: It is backdated to April 19 and June 5. The vote today changed history, slightly, effectively giving Oracle power over Sun since this past spring.
Make no mistake about it: This was the end. Such an ending it was, as Schwartz andd McNealy couldn't bring themselves to show their faces. They know what is going to happen to this company, and I expect they both feel guilty and responsible for the result. How could you not feel responsible after presiding over almost 10 years of declining revenues and profits? There were moments of light along the way. But there is no denying this singular fact: While other technology companies are growing, Sun was barely keeping up, and usually shrinking.
But the shrinkage that is yet to come is far greater. Analysts are expecting a 33% cut in headcount at Sun, and I think that's conservative. Oracle expects to make more money on this deal than it did on its deals with BEA and PeopleSoft combined.
And that is why Schwartz isn't here, I believe. Because he genuinely loved Sun and its employees. And because he can't stand to look them in the eye knowing that most of them are about to lose their jobs.