Mary Ann Davidson, Oracle’s (ORCL) longtime Chief Security Officer and one of the most influential women in cybersecurity, is leaving the company amid an internal reorganization, according to Bloomberg. Interestingly, she joined the tech giant in 1988 after serving in the U.S. Navy and worked her way up to become the company’s first Chief Security Officer. As a result of her nearly four-decade tenure, she became a well-known figure in the industry and a key player in shaping Oracle’s product security policies.
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It is worth noting that the timing of her exit comes as Oracle cuts costs in order to pour resources into AI infrastructure. And while Oracle didn’t offer an official comment, a filing from June noted that day-to-day cybersecurity operations are now led by Robert Duhart, who is a senior vice president and former Chief Information Security Officer at Walmart (WMT). Nevertheless, Davidson had long been a close advisor to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and played a major role in making sure that Oracle’s products lived up to their “unbreakable” branding during the early 2000s.
In addition, Davidson helped develop industry-leading security practices, but not without controversy. In fact, in 2015, she drew backlash after publishing a blog post that criticized customers for trying to find vulnerabilities in Oracle’s software by claiming it wasted her team’s time. Oracle later removed the post, stating it didn’t reflect the company’s views. Still, Davidson’s impact on cybersecurity at Oracle has been profound.
Is ORCL Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on ORCL stock based on 24 Buys, 10 Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average ORCL price target of $248.79 per share implies that shares are trading at fair value.
