Sun Microsystems CEO Tweets Resignation

The CEO of a major computer vendor and information technology services firm has quit his job. That alone is a big deal, but the way he announced his resignation -- via social networking site Twitter -- has turned a few extra heads.

Sun Microsystems' CEO Jonathan Schwartz announced his resignation on Twitter yesterday. "Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it," he Tweeted at 1:12am Thursday morning, says the New York Times. Schwartz followed that with an exceptionally brief synopsis of the reasoning behind his quitting, announcing, "Financial crisis, Stalled too many customers, CEO no more." (Source: usatoday.com)

Long-Time Advocate of Web 2.0

For those who know something about Schwartz, the method of announcing his resignation to the world is not that surprising. A long-time proponent of Web 2.0, Schwartz was probably the first CEO of a major tech company to use blogging as a way to connect with customers and consumers alike.

In fact, Schwartz believed executives at Sun should treat blogs the same as they would press releases, and advocated such a position in dealing with the Securities Exchange Commission.

According to the New York Times, after being the first CEO to use blogging as a way to connect with the tech world, he's also the first to announce his resignation via Twitter.

Struggles, Acquisition Behind Resignation

The end of Schwartz's tenure at Sun had been predicted for some time. The company has struggled to regain its market position after Schwartz initiated major changes in 2006, and the economic downturn only worsened its chances at a full recovery. It was two strikes and you're out for Sun's former CEO, who did his best to change a formula at Sun that had never really worked since the dotcom crash in 2001.

Schwartz had been a major part of attempts to have IBM acquire Sun in 2008, but that fell through and the company was eventually scooped up by Oracle. It was a long and brutal process, completed in July 2009 but then prolonged by a European Commission review checking for evidence of anti-competitive behavior.

Now that the ordeal's over, the Tweeting ex-CEO plans on spending time away from work. After that, Schwartz isn't sure where he'll end up. "In the short run, I'm planning to spend some long overdue time with my family. Longer run, with a few million businesses and a few billion consumers on the Web, rumor has it there are some interesting opportunities to be had." (Source: informationweek.com)