8 May 2002 The Silicon Valley exodus gathered pace yesterday with the news that two senior managers of Commerce One are to leave the beleaguered e-marketplace software vendor.

Dennis Jones, the company’s president and chief operating officer (COO), will leave the company on 30 June 2002. Peter Pervere, its chief financial officer (CFO), will retire from his primary duties at the end of May, but will stay on in a consulting capacity.

CEO and chairman Mark Hoffman will reassume the title and responsibilities of president, the company said. Chuck Boynton, the corporate controller, will become CFO.

Commerce One, of Pleasanton, California, gave no official reason for the departures. But the announcement comes less than a month after it posted some catastrophic quarterly results.

Net losses amounted to $220 million (€249.2 million) on sales that plunged 81% to just $31.8 million (€36 million), while a further 500 workers – or almost one-third of its already depleted staff – would be laid off as part of a renewed cost-cutting drive.

The Commerce One announcement follows the departures of a number of senior figures in California’s technology industry in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, asset management software vendor Peregrine Systems replaced CEO and chairman Steve Gardner and CFO Matt Gless after new auditor KPMG questioned historic revenue-recognition methods. Rick Nelson was promoted to acting CEO from his position as Peregrine’s executive vice president.

Last week, Ed Zander, Sun Microsystems’ COO, became the fourth senior executive to leave the systems and software group in as many weeks.