Safra Catz
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 2021 Catz garnered attention for her stock trading, for acquiring 2.25 million shares through the conversion of derivatives, before selling them on the open market at roughly double the price.[24][25]
In March 2022 she was appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas[26]
Political involvement
During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Catz donated to the campaign of Marco Rubio.[27] She later served on President Trump's transition team,[28][29] and media outlets frequently mentioned her as a potential official in the Trump administration.[30][31][27] During the 2018 election cycle, Catz donated over $150,000 to Republican-aligned groups and individuals,[32] including Congressman Devin Nunes.[33] Catz donated $125,000 to Donald Trump's re-election campaign in May 2020.[34]
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.
- ^ "Here's how much Oracle CEO Safra Catz earned from shares this month". March 29, 2021.
- ^ "US SEC – Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership". March 22, 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Reklaitis, Victor; Marriner, Katie (October 22, 2018). "How America's top CEOs are spending their own money on the midterm elections". Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ Markay, Lachlan; Stein, Sam (February 12, 2018). "The Silicon Valley Giant Bankrolling Devin Nunes". Daily Beast. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
- ^ "Browse Individual contributions". FEC.gov. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
External links
- 1961 births
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies
- American chief financial officers
- American computer businesspeople
- American corporate directors
- American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- American technology chief executives
- American women bankers
- American bankers
- American women chief executives
- Brookline High School alumni
- Directors of The Walt Disney Company
- HSBC people
- Israeli women chief executive officers
- Israeli emigrants to the United States
- Israeli Jews
- Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent
- Living people
- Oracle employees
- Businesspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts
- People from Holon
- Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty
- University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni
- Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
- Women chief financial officers
- 20th-century American businesswomen
- 21st-century American businesswomen