Sun’s McNealy Steps Aside as CEO

Along with word that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Scott McNealy has stepped aside as head of Sun Microsystems, the company on Monday reported a loss of US$217 million for its most recent fiscal quarter.

McNealy announced on a conference call to discuss the results that Jonathan Schwartz has been chosen by the board of directors to take over as CEO effective immediately. Schwartz had been president and chief operating officer.

As far as financial news, Sun’s revenue for the quarter rose 21 percent, year over year, totaling $3.2 billion for the period, its third quarter of fiscal 2006, which ended on March 26. Revenue was buoyed by its recent StorageTek acquisition.

The $217 million loss, which amounted to $0.06 per share, included $87 million in charges related to acquisitions, as well as $93 million in compensation and restructuring charges, Sun said. In its third quarter last year, the company lost $28 million, or $0.01 per share.

Sun has failed to recover from the end of the dot-com boom, and the company has posted a string of losses or near break-even results over the past five years. With its stock also suffering, in recent weeks there had been growing speculation that a shake-up was coming to the Santa Clara, Calif., company.

-Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

For related coverage, read Bernard Golden’s recent blog post Sun: Meet the New Boss, Same As the Old Boss.

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