The SCO Group Ousts McBride
The SCO Group, Lindon, Utah, also eliminated the CEO and president positions, and unveiled other changes in the company including what it termed a "modest reduction" in its workforce as part of a move to cut costs in response to an analysis of the company's operations by its Chapter 11 Trustee.
With the the removal of McBride and the elimination of the two executive posts, SCO on Monday said its current management team, including COO Jeff Hunsaker, CFO Ken Nielsen and General Counsel Ryan Tibbitts, will work closely with the Chapter 11 Trustee.
Details about the restructuring are slated to be unveiled within the next month, SCO said.
Hunsaker said in a statement, "This restructuring plan reinforces SCO's ability to continue to sell and support its products while servicing the needs of our customers and partners on a worldwide basis through the stabilization of our financial situation."
SCO is also seeing additional funding and plans to sell some noncore assets to build the capital it needs to preserve its business, pursue its litigation against other companies, including IBM and Novell, and support its Unix customer base.
The company has been in legal battles with IBM and Novell over ownership to the rights to Unix and whether a portion of the Unix code was incorporated illegally into the Linux operating system.
SCO filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007 after a court rejected its Unix copyright claims and ruled that Novell, not SCO, was the rightful owner of the Unix code.
McBride's role at SCO has been controversial for some time. In February of 2008, investors who were considering investing $100 million in SCO said in a statement that McBride was not to be a part of SCO and that he should resign.
That investment was eventually canceled.
In August, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware denied a motion by IBM and Novell to liquidate SCO in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and instead appointed Edward N. Cahn, a former chief U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as Chapter 11 Trustee for the company.
Germany-based Heise Medien International, via its online site The H, carries a good overview of The SCO Group's recent history.