Duffield must have longed for a quiet Christmas, because on 21 December the Peoplesoft CEO resigned.
In his three month tenure he succeeded at getting a higher price for the company: $10.3 bn instead of the $9.3 bn Oracle initially offered. Peoplesoft disclosed the news in single phrase in a SEC filing that IDG News took home for some bedtime reading.

Duffield founded Peoplesoft in 1987 and stepped down in May 1999. Conway was at the helm between 1999 and October 2004.

Conway ferociously battled the hostile takeover bid by Oracle. He was fired after the board of directors lost faith in him. Soon after he left, Oracle and Peoplesoft inked that deal that made all of Conway's efforts useless.

In related news, Oracle on Wednesday gained a controlling 75 percent stake in Peoplesoft.

30 Dec 2004