Mark Hurd facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mark Hurd
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Hurd at Oracle in 2010
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Mark Vincent Hurd
January 1, 1957 Manhattan, New York, U.S.
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| Died | October 18, 2019 (aged 62) |
| Education | Baylor University |
| Occupation | Co-CEO of Oracle Corporation |
| Spouse(s) | Paula Hurd |
Mark Vincent Hurd (born January 1, 1957 – died October 18, 2019) was an American business leader in the technology world. He was best known for being a Co-CEO (which means co-chief executive officer) and a board member at Oracle Corporation. Before that, he was the chairman, CEO, and president of Hewlett-Packard (HP).
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Early Life and Education
Mark Hurd was born in New York City. His mother, Teresa A. Fanoni, and his father, Ralph Steiner Hurd, raised him. He went to The Browning School in New York City and finished there in 1974.
In 1979, Mark Hurd earned a degree in Business Administration from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He attended Baylor on a tennis scholarship.
Career Journey
Starting at NCR (1980–2005)
Mark Hurd worked for NCR Corporation for 25 years. He started as a junior salesman in San Antonio in 1980. Over time, he took on many different roles in sales, marketing, and management.
He became the president of NCR in 2001. In 2002, he also took on the role of chief operating officer. This meant he was in charge of the company's daily operations. He also led the company's Teradata division, which focused on managing large amounts of data.
Leading Hewlett-Packard (2005–2010)
In 2005, Mark Hurd became the CEO and president of Hewlett-Packard (HP). HP is a very large technology company. He was also elected to HP's board of directors. In 2006, he became the chairman of the board.
Under his leadership, HP became a top seller of laptop computers in 2006. By 2007, they were also leaders in desktop computer sales. HP also increased its share in the printer market.
Mark Hurd was known for making HP more efficient. He helped the company increase its profits for 22 quarters in a row. The company's revenue grew by 63%, and its stock price doubled. Many people saw his work as a great success story in business.
He focused on cutting costs and making the company run better. For example, he reduced the number of software applications HP used. He also combined many of HP's data centers into fewer, larger ones.
Because of his success, Mark Hurd received many honors. Fortune Magazine named him one of the most powerful people in business in 2007. The San Francisco Chronicle called him CEO of the year in 2008. In 2009, Forbes magazine also listed him as a top CEO.
In August 2010, Mark Hurd resigned from all his roles at HP.
Moving to Oracle Corporation (2010–2019)
In September 2010, Mark Hurd joined Oracle Corporation as president. He shared this role with Safra A. Catz. He also became a member of Oracle's board of directors. Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle at the time, appointed them.
At Oracle, Mark Hurd worked to improve the company's sales team. He hired many new sales representatives. He also changed how they were paid to encourage more sales of hardware. By 2013, he reported that the sales team had grown by 4,000 people.
He also started a program called “Class Of” in 2013. This program hired thousands of college graduates. It trained them to become sales representatives, especially to sell Oracle's cloud services. This idea was so successful that Oracle built a new campus in Austin, Texas, for these new employees. By 2015, Oracle was hiring 1,300 students each year through this program.
In September 2014, Larry Ellison stepped down as CEO. Mark Hurd and Safra Catz then became co-CEOs of Oracle. Mark Hurd was in charge of sales, service, and marketing. Safra Catz managed operations, legal, and finance.
Under Mark Hurd, Oracle focused more on cloud technology. They updated their older software to compete with newer cloud-based companies. In 2016, Oracle's cloud business grew by 82% from the previous year. They also invested a lot of money into making their cloud services even better.
Oracle also bought several cloud-based companies in 2016 while Mark Hurd was co-CEO. These included companies like NetSuite, which helps businesses with planning, and Opower, which provides services to utility companies.
Personal Life
Mark Hurd married Elizabeth A. Butler in 1980, but they later divorced. He then married Paula Kalupa in 1990. Paula was also a business executive. They had two daughters named Kathryn and Kelly.
In September 2019, Mark Hurd announced he was taking time off for health reasons. He passed away on October 18, 2019.
