January 30, 2013, 12:13 PM — Oracle may have had its hands full lately dealing with Java security issues, but the company's acquisition of Java founder Sun Microsystems three years ago this month still has paid off, company President Mark Hurd said. An investment research firm, though, still has listed Oracle's Sun acquisition as reason to sell off Oracle stock.
Asked during a teleconference Monday afternoon whether the $7.4 acquisition had paid for itself, Hurd responded, "Yes -- materially so." Cash flow from the deal, he said, "has far exceeded the purchase price of the acquisition."
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Not bad, considering Sun was reportedly losing $100 million a month in 2009 while the sale was still pending. The purchase, Hurd said, had multiple dimensions, including Java, which included both a financial element and an enablement piece relating to Oracle development activities; a support base; and a positive hardware revenue stream. Also, the acquisition helped Oracle develop such products as its Exadata database machine and Exalogic Engineered System product lines.
Hurd did not address the spate of Java security issues of late that Oracle has inherited with its Sun acquisition. The company in recent blogs and during a meeting with Java user groups pledged to be more open about the issue and continue working on the problems.
