No Surprise

Come on, is anybody really surprised that Paul Cayard has received the flick from Larry Ellison? If you know anything about Ellison, it is that he is one hard driving, temperamental freak who has amassed a fortune in the software business with his Oracle Company. Currently the 12th richest man in the world (Forbes.Com), he has a penchant for firing top people in his company, sometimes for no real or certainly no justifiable reasons. His volatility is legendary within the ranks of upper management at Oracle. Oracle Corp. has seen its stock fall by 58% in 2001, and Ellison has dropped to fourth place on America's richest list, his personal wealth down 63% from last year to a paltry 21 billion. Divorced three times (that alone says something about the man, doesn't it?) and one who is clearly used to doing things his way, this is a man whose ways are justified by his success, wealth and power. Did anyone think he wouldn't run his Oracle AC program like he runs Oracle Software?

Now let's look at the two principal (used to be) top guns he hired, Chris Dickson and Cayard. Dickson's relentless verbal abuse of crewmembers is legendary and combined with a huge ego, he endears himself to very few. With Cayard, I think it is easy to be somewhat fooled. He appears to be the cool, together, consummate pro, but on the water, it's often another matter. Did you hear his high-strung screaming on ESPN during the finals of the last AC? It didn't exactly reflect the image we had of him. Not only did it seem out of place; it seemed out of character, but in reality perhaps not. That type of over-wound demeanor seemed particularly odd when compared to John Kostecki's much calmer and rational emotions. Based on that alone, and as an aside, who would you choose to run your AC effort? Oh, and AC veteran Cayard may be, his record is what, 0 for 4? He's good, but has he proven that he can really put together winning AC programs? He's had two very good shots, and not gotten the job done. That Cayard is an excellent sailor is indisputable, but he himself is now a wealthy man with a fat ego and also one who wants things done his way. It's likely that he didn't exactly come off as a team player, either.

Add to that wonderful mix of huffing and puffing, the fact that the really wealthy ego known as Larry Ellison now has the desire to steer the boat that he is paying for, and you can just feel the negativity ooze out of the Big Egos. Dickson has already gotten bitch slapped by Ellison, and Cayard is not named as skipper, but Sailing Manager? Huh?

So, you've got this $80 million dollar sailing program, owned and run by one very volatile man, in a now recessionary economy, and you've just got to think that some bizarre decision making is going to take place. Something bad was going down.

Are we really surprised that it was Cayard?

November 2, 2001 8:22 PM