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Peoplesoft's founder steps aside

Mel Duvall ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 22 Sep 1999 11:39 BST

PeopleSoft founder and chief executive David Duffield announced Tuesday that he was stepping aside to make room for current president Craig Conway to assume the helm of the software giant.

The announcement comes at a time when PeopleSoft, a maker of enterprise resource planning software, has been hit by a string of senior management departures and a sagging share price. Its shares have sunk 45 percent in the past year as companies held back on launching ERP projects to deal with more pressing year-2000 issues.

The company said Duffield will continue as chairman of the company's board of directors.

In a release, Duffield said Conway has increasingly taken on a guiding role since joining the company in May. Previously, Conway, 44, was president of One Touch Systems, an interactive broadcast networking company, and served as president of TGV Software. He also spent eight years at Oracle in a variety of senior management roles.

"I'm confident Craig is the right person to lead PeopleSoft in its next phase of growth as a multibillion dollar company," Duffield said.