Ex-PeopleSoft CEO Testifies in Oracle Trial

In the first public comments since his surprise firing, former PeopleSoft Inc. Chief Executive Craig Conway acknowledged Wednesday that he embarked on a campaign to “vilify” Oracle Corp. after it launched an unsolicited bid to buy his software company.

But the onetime protege of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison denied any personal animosity toward his former boss -- a man he once compared to the Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan.

Instead, Conway told a Delaware court, he was trying to rally PeopleSoft employees and customers nervous about Oracle’s $7.7-billion tender offer.

“We thought it was not a good faith offer,” Conway said under questioning by Oracle’s attorney. “We didn’t think it was even a bad faith offer. We thought it was a destructive offer.”

Later, Conway testified that his “strategy was to vilify the offer as a context for customers and employees.”

The comments came during a trial over Oracle’s efforts to invalidate PeopleSoft’s anti-takeover defenses. Conway, who was sacked last week, was a relentless critic of Oracle’s offer. His firing sparked speculation that Pleasanton, Calif.-based PeopleSoft’s board might be prepared to negotiate with Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle after 16 months of bitter fighting.

That sentiment intensified Friday after the Justice Department said it would not appeal a federal court ruling that a union between Oracle and PeopleSoft would not violate antitrust laws.

Then, on Tuesday, PeopleSoft director Steven Goldby testified during the Delaware trial that the company might be open to selling “at the right price” and under the right conditions.

“It’s all a matter of negotiations now,” said Jason Maynard, analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co., a market maker in PeopleSoft shares. “Everything’s on the table now. It’s all about price.”

Shares of PeopleSoft fell 17 cents on Nasdaq to $22.66, above Oracle’s offer of $21 a share. Oracle’s shares gained 3 cents to $12.24, also on Nasdaq.

PeopleSoft spokesman Steven Swasey on Wednesday warned against reading too much into Conway’s firing or Goldby’s testimony.

“This board has met more than 80 times in the last 16 months,” Swasey said. “They have talked about every aspect of this tender offer. [Tuesday] was the first time any board member of PeopleSoft has said anything publicly.... It’s only new because he’s never said anything publicly before.”