Billionaire Entrepreneur Larry Ellison Steps Down as CEO of Oracle

It's a big day at tech giant Oracle. Larry Ellison, the billionaire who co-founded the Redwood City, Calif.-based company in 1977 is stepping down as CEO.

A pair of co-CEOs will replace Ellison, Oracle said today in an announcement. They will include company president Mark Hurd -- formerly the CEO, president and chairman of HP -- as well as Safra Catz, who joined Oracle in 1999 and most recently served as co-president with Hurd.

Ellison will remain with the company as executive chairman of the board. He will also serve as the company's chief technology officer.

"Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy," Oracle's presiding board director Dr. Michael Boskin said in an announcement. "Safra and Mark are exceptional executives who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to lead, manage and grow the company."

Keeping the current management team and reporting relationships relatively unchanged was a "top priority of mine," Ellison is quoted in the announcement.

Ellison, of course, is among the world's wealthiest people, worth a reported $51 billion.

Related: The Incredible Real Estate Portfolio of Billionaire Entrepreneur Larry Ellison