MySQL founder resigns with a pop at Sun

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 9 Oct 2008 at 11:49

The co-founder of MySQL has resigned, with a snipe at the company's new owners, Sun.

Sun acquired MySQL for $1 billion in January, but Sun's corporate culture was too much to bear for MySQL co-founder, David Axmark, who has handed in his resignation.

"I have thought about my role at Sun and decided that I am better off in smaller organisations," Axmark's resignation reads, according to a blog post from his close friend, Kaj Arno.

"I HATE all the rules that I need to follow, and I also HATE breaking them. It would be far better for me to 'retire' from employment and work with MySQL and Sun on a less formal basis."

Axmark's resignation is indicative of the tensions that often emerge when start-up companies are taken over by larger corporates.

Skype's co-founder Niklas Zennstrom resigned from the company two years after it was taken over by auction site Ebay.

Stewart Butterfield, the co-founder of Flickr, also quit parent company Yahoo with a bizarre resignation letter, claiming his ability to contribute to the company had "dwindled to near nothing".