Schwartz's recent all-hands memo to employees had all the sentimentality of a farewell letter, said a CNet News report. It quoted a source as saying that he is preparing to leave the company and would soon announce his resignation.

According to Sun's definitive proxy statement, Schwartz stands to earn about $12 million from the severance package he negotiated, plus another $5.1 million or so for the shares he still holds in the company, the report added.

On Tuesday, Sun had de-listed itself from the Nasdaq Stock Market, which is an indication that Oracle's takeover of Sun was almost complete. A media report said that Oracle is set to announce a detailed work plan for the combined Oracle/Sun entity.

On Wednesday, Oracle will hold an event at its Silicon Valley headquarters where executives from the company will talk in detail about the plans for Sun Microsystems, said a New York Times report.

According to Ellison, in the next few months, Oracle is planning to lay off fewer than 2,000 people, while hiring more than 2,000 people in engineering, sales and other roles. He did not rule out that additional layoffs might occur later, said the report.

Ellison added that he expected Sun’s chief executive, Jonathan I. Schwartz, to resign and that he hoped that Scott G. McNealy, Sun’s co-founder and chairman, would stay on at Oracle, although his title and duties were not clear.