Oracle is getting two new CEOs. Why that's good news for the stock.

By Emily Bary

With Safra Catz staying involved at Oracle in the role of executive vice chair, investors can expect 'a smooth transition' as Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia jointly assume the CEO position

Oracle's stock is up 85% this year, and two new CEOs will be tasked with furthering the company's momentum.

Oracle Corp. is in the midst of a pivotal year as it transforms itself further into a cloud-computing powerhouse that can compete with the longtime titans of that market. The company's cloud momentum has set the stage for a drastically increased growth outlook in the years to come.

Now there's one more big change investors should pay attention to, and it's one that the market seems to like so far. Oracle (ORCL) announced on Monday that Safra Catz, who has been Oracle's chief executive since 2014, will be stepping down from her post but staying with the company in the role of executive vice chair.

Taking her place will be Clay Magouyrk, who had been president of the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure business and brings prior experience working at Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) Amazon Web Services, as well as Mike Sicilia, who was formerly the president of Oracle Industries and who the company said possesses "deep expertise in vertical applications and applied [artificial intelligence]."

Oracle's stock gained 6% on Monday, reflecting optimism about the new plan. While leadership transitions sometimes cause investor worries about uncertainty, analysts note that Magouyrk and Sicilia are deeply familiar with the business and, crucially, that Catz is sticking around.

"We think the move expands the breadth of leadership at Oracle, with Larry and Safra still providing guidance and business discipline," Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler wrote in a note to clients on Monday, referring to Larry Ellison, who's now the company's chief technology officer and executive chair.

The depth of leadership is just one reason the analyst viewed the development positively. He also noted that the move elevates "representation of key businesses to the executive level" and that the two incoming CEOs "are from engineering background, which should maintain the focus on tech innovation and leadership."

"At this time of strength [it] is the right moment to pass the CEO role to the next generation of capable executives," Catz said in a press release.

See also: Why the $300 billion Oracle-OpenAI deal could be fueling an AI bubble

The co-CEO concept isn't a new one for Oracle. Catz shared the CEO post with Mark Hurd for several years preceding his death in 2019.

But by tapping company veterans to assume the CEO post and giving Catz the position of executive vice chair, Oracle is signaling to investors that there should be continuity at the company.

There's also precedent for transitioning key executives out of the top post but allowing them to stay involved. Co-founder Larry Ellison hasn't been CEO in about a decade, but he serves as chief technology officer and executive chair, and his influence is still widely felt throughout the company. Analysts recently cited his star power and continued involvement with Oracle as reasons for the company's ability to sign major cloud deals that could dramatically alter its growth trajectory.

Read: Oracle's not-so-secret weapon that's helped it quickly take on the cloud giants

"The bottom line is that with Larry remaining at CTO and Safra as executive vice chair, we expect a smooth transition in the near-term," Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne said in a note to clients. "Our expectation is that Mike will focus on many of the sales initiatives, especially around apps/industry verticals, with Clay in charge of OCI/database."

Ellison said in Monday's release that, with Catz moving to a new role, the two of them "will be able to continue our 26-year partnership - helping to guide Oracle's direction, growth and success."

The company is sticking with the financial guidance it offered earlier this month, which helped send the stock soaring at the time.

-Emily Bary

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09-22-25 1920ET