Having not been bought by Oracle Corp or any of the other three suitors that approached it – including Novell Inc, Object Design Inc, the object database company everyone thought would make it, especially when IBM Corp bought a large stake in the company, has relieved president and chief executive Ken Marshall, from day-to-day control, making him company chairman. Insiders say it is connected to the company reported $11m loss last year, its flat sales and gathering expenses. Rumoured lay-offs have not yet occured. The company, which has by all accounts been shopped hard recently, apparently couldn’t find anyone to pick up the tab – the asking price was eight times annual sales. It has installed Phyllis Swverski as acting president and chief executive while it conducts a search, but hasn’t ruled out the possibility she may stay on in that role. The former Cullinet executive, described as an acquisition specialist of some regard, was brought into the company by Marshall to oversee financial operations. Publicly, Object Design said it’s back on course for an initial public offering, looking at the second half of next year, by which time it hopes its volume distribution agreements and income from telecommunications markets should have swelled its revenue stream for a few quarters, carrying it to between $30m and $40m. Marshall drove the company’s original sales and consulting model. The firm says that a new chief executive will have to develop a vision with broader markets.
