After 35 years heading Oracle Corp., Larry Ellison is stepping down as CEO of the software company he founded. Splitting the newly opened CEO position are Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, current co-presidents of Oracle. Hurd will run sales, marketing and strategy while Catz will remain the company’s chief financial officer and oversee legal and manufacturing options. As for Ellison, he remains involved with his company as chairman, replacing Jeff Henley, also taking the title of CTO.

Ellison’s departure marks the closing of a chapter in one of technology’s most profitable eras, as Oracle has a market capitalization of over $185 billion, producing annual revenue of $38 billion. While Ellison’s decision also ushers in fresh opportunity for Oracle under new leadership, some would say the company’s founding father is leaving on a high note.

“He is stepping down at the top of his game,” said John Furrier, SiliconANGLE founder. “Oracle seemed to never have slowed under his leadership. Now Hurd clearly is in control while Ellison’s top lieutenants Katz and Henley are minding the store. And running a tropical island isn’t easy,” Furrier adds slyly, hinting that Ellison has freed up time to fulfill publically shared plans to develop his island of Lanai in Hawaii, acquired in 2012.

Not entirely different from the opportunity presented to Microsoft Corp.’s new CEO Satya Nadella, Oracle’s co-CEOs take over during a time of industry shifting towards cloud computing.

SiliconANGLE Media co-CEO and chief analyst Dave Vellante indicated that he believed Ellison would remain far more involved in the running of Oracle moving forward than his contemporary Bill Gates was after his transition from CEO.

“He still participating in the conference calls with investors and analysts,” said Vellante. “This looks to be succession planning, with Safra or Hurd in mind. That said, it’s highly unlikely Ellison will let go of major decisions concerning strategy, research and development (R&D) or acquisition.”

Vellante also offered his view of what a post-Ellison Oracle may feel like, pointing to last year’s Oracle OpenWorld.

“Larry was largely absent from the show, instead focusing on Oracle’s sailing team in the America’s Cup,” said Vellante. “Without him there, it felt a bit empty.”

Some analysts have even speculated that there exists the possibility for a mega-merger of Oracle and Salesforce.com, Inc., leaving Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to run the whole organization as the ultimate succession plan.

Oracle’s core business has been selling enterprise software, earning margins on licensing fees. New cloud technologies are employing software rental tactics to the enterprise, minimizing the need for a licensing commitment.  With less than 5 percent growth in sales over the last 11 quarters according to a Bloomberg report, Oracle has faced growing competition to sign up new customers.

Oracle has shifted its strategy over the past year, making key acquisitions in order to boost cloud offerings in industry-specific verticals like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software including its recent buy of Responsys, Inc. The software giant has also embraced open source technology to promote its hyperscale cloud efforts, most recently adding OpenStack capabilities to its cloudbelt.

photo credit: the other Martin Taylor via photopin cc