Douglas Kehring

About Douglas Kehring

Douglas A. Kehring is Oracle’s Executive Vice President and Principal Financial Officer (PFO) effective September 22, 2025, after a decade leading Oracle’s Operations organization and two decades in corporate development and strategic planning at Oracle (joined 2000). He is 52 years old; prior roles include EVP, Operations (since March 2015) and SVP, Corporate Development & Strategic Planning (2005–2015) . He holds a BBA in Finance, Investment & Banking from the University of Wisconsin–Madison . Oracle’s executive incentive architecture emphasizes non-GAAP operating income growth in the annual bonus program and cloud revenue/gross margin metrics in long-term PSOs—important context for assessing pay-performance alignment for senior executives like the PFO .

Past Roles

External Roles

Fixed Compensation

• Oracle has not disclosed Mr. Kehring’s base salary, target bonus, or FY2025 actual bonus in the latest proxy; he was not a FY2025 NEO, and his PFO appointment occurred after the FY2025 year-end and record date. Expect disclosure in the next proxy cycle .

Performance Compensation

• Annual executive bonus framework: For executives directly responsible for Oracle’s financial performance, the Executive Bonus Plan uses pre-established growth in Oracle’s non-GAAP operating income; the Compensation Committee may exercise negative discretion (e.g., FY2025 CEO/NEO bonuses reduced to $0 despite formulaic achievement) .
• Long-term equity design context (FY2026 program evolution): Following leadership changes, the Compensation Committee granted option awards to the new co-CEOs with 80% time-based options (4-year vesting) and 20% PSOs (3-year performance period through May 31, 2028) based on revenue metrics; the Committee is refining the FY2026 equity program for remaining NEOs (context for broader senior-officer equity design) .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• Stock ownership guidelines (minimum share ownership within 5 years; 1-year grace to meet higher tier after promotion):

  • EVPs who are Section 16 Officers (includes PFO): 50,000 shares
  • All other EVPs: 25,000 shares
    Oracle states all non-employee directors and senior officers are in compliance or have additional time; full-value awards count only once vested; 50% of in-the-money value of vested, unexercised options counts .

• Hedging and pledging:

  • Anti-hedging policy applies to all employees and directors .
  • Pledging of Oracle securities is prohibited for directors and executive officers, except a carved-out exception for Larry Ellison (whose pledging is overseen quarterly by the Governance Committee). As of Sept. 19, 2025, no other executive officer or director (or immediate family) had pledged Oracle shares .

• Clawback: Robust clawback policy compliant with SEC rules; permits recovery of incentive compensation upon a financial restatement or where an executive engaged in (or in some cases was aware of/willfully blind to) significant misconduct .

• Deferred compensation: Eligible executives may defer salary/bonus (1993 Cash Deferred Compensation Plan) and defer settlement of vested RSUs (Stock Unit Award Deferred Compensation Plan) .

Employment Terms

Governance, Policies, and Shareholder Feedback (Compensation Context)

• Best practices: high proportion of at-risk pay; caps on payouts; robust stock ownership guidelines; clawback; independent Compensation Committee; no underwater option repricing without shareholder approval .
• Practices avoided: no executive severance arrangements (except as required by law/equity plan), no single-trigger CIC vesting, no change-in-control acceleration of performance cash bonuses, no “golden parachute” gross-ups, no dividends on unvested equity, no SERP/pension for U.S. NEOs .
• FY2026 equity program: shareholders provided feedback on performance periods and metrics; Committee incorporated feedback into CEO option grants and is refining the program for remaining NEOs .
• Say-on-pay: Advisory vote on NEO compensation scheduled for Nov. 18, 2025; Board recommends FOR .

Performance & Track Record

• Tenure and operating scope: 25+ years at Oracle with deep exposure to M&A, corporate development, and large-scale operational transformation (corporate systems, cloud data center strategy, business process modernization), culminating in PFO appointment during Oracle’s AI- and cloud-driven expansion .
• Leadership transition context: Kehring’s PFO appointment aligned with Oracle’s CEO transition and ongoing build-out of AI infrastructure and applications strategy, underscoring the importance of disciplined financial leadership in the current growth phase .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Education: BBA in Finance, Investment & Banking (University of Wisconsin–Madison) .
• Functional expertise: Corporate development (M&A execution and integration), operations, cloud data center strategy, business transformation .

Equity Ownership & Alignment (Implications)

• Ownership requirement: As a promoted Section 16 EVP (PFO), Kehring must meet the 50,000-share guideline within 5 years, with a 1-year window to meet the higher threshold post-promotion—aligning long-term interests with shareholders .
• No pledging/hedging: Policy limits leverage and hedging, reducing risk of forced selling or misaligned incentives typically associated with margin or derivatives .
• Clawback and double-trigger CIC: Strengthens accountability and discourages short-termism; mitigates windfalls not tied to sustained performance .

Investment Implications

• Alignment high; severance risk low: Oracle’s prohibition of executive severance arrangements, double-trigger CIC vesting, robust ownership guidelines, anti-hedging/pledging, and a strong clawback framework suggest strong pay-governance alignment and limited “golden parachute” risk—supportive for investors focused on governance quality .
• Near-term disclosure watch: Kehring’s detailed compensation package (base, bonus targets, equity mix/vesting) should be disclosed in the next proxy; the Compensation Committee’s FY2026 equity redesign for non-CEO NEOs is a key signal for incentive calibration (e.g., performance horizons, revenue/AI/cloud metrics) .
• Retention and execution: Long tenure in operations and M&A plus elevation to PFO during the AI/OCI growth phase point to continuity and institutional knowledge; investors should monitor equity grant structures and ownership progression versus the 50,000-share guideline as indicators of continued alignment .

Sources: Oracle 2025 DEF 14A proxy; Oracle 8-K (Sept. 22, 2025); executive background from public profiles as cited.
Citations: ; ; External bio/education links: .