CEO Duffield leaves PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft founder David Duffield, who returned as chief executive of the business software maker during its takeover battle with rival Oracle, has resigned from the company.

The resignation was effective on 21 December, according to a filing on Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing provided no other details on the resignation.

PeopleSoft and Oracle declined to comment on the filing, and Duffield could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, PeopleSoft's board agreed to a $10.3bn takeover by Oracle after more than 18 months of hostility between the two companies. Oracle executives had said they expected to complete the merger by Thursday.

Duffield, who founded PeopleSoft in 1987, was appointed CEO in October after Craig Conway was fired as president and chief executive officer. A PeopleSoft board member later testified that Conway was fired in large part because of his reckless exaggeration to Wall Street analysts when informing them last year that Oracle's offer to buy the company was no longer a disruptive influence.

At the time, Duffield said he was looking forward to returning to the helm of PeopleSoft.

"It's great to be back," Duffield said. "It's an exciting day for me, personally. I look forward to coming back to work with a strong management team."

He also said that he didn't see his new stint as CEO as an interim role. "I'm here for the long term. I'm energised, and I can't imagine a better team to work with."

Steven Musil writes for CNET News.com. CNET News.com's Dawn Kawamoto contributed to this report.