Looking Back: Top 10 Software Stories

Oracle Foresees Sun

Oracle honcho Larry Ellison likes to get his way, and, more often than not, he does. Just ask Tom Siebel. Oracle’s bid to buy Sun Microsystems for a whopping $7.4 billion could change the whole landscape of the software marketplace by putting Java and MySQL in the hands and guidance of the software giant. But, Ellison’s public claim that Sun hemorrhages $100 million a month coupled with antitrust concerns by the EU threw a big wrench into the mix. Each day, the deal looks less and less likely as shareholders and analysts balk at the price tag and Sun’s market share is eaten up by commodity servers and customers jumping ship to HP and IBM. Look to 2010 for deal resolution and a possible asset sale if the deal falls through.