Oracle Corp. ORCL -0.87% said Mark Hurd, one of its two chief executives officers, died Friday.

Oracle said last month that Mr. Hurd, 62, was taking a medical leave of absence, removing the technology giant’s top executive for sales and strategy at a time of intensifying competition in the business-software market.

Oracle didn’t immediately mention the cause of death and hadn’t said what specific issues the CEO was facing when he took leave.

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said “Oracle has lost a brilliant and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of us during his decade at Oracle.”

He shared the chief executive role with co-CEO Safra Catz. Hurd, who was paid $108.3 million last year, previously served as CEO of Hewlett-Packard for five years until 2010.

In an email to employees on Friday morning obtained by the Business Journal, Oracle co-founder and Chairman Larry Ellison wrote:

Team,
It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that I tell everyone here at Oracle that Mark Hurd passed away early this morning.

Mark was my close and irreplaceable friend, and trusted colleague. Oracle has lost a brilliant and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of us during his decade at Oracle.

All of us will miss Mark’s keen mind and rare ability to analyze, simplify and solve problems quickly. Some of us will moss his friendship and mentorship. I will miss his kindness and sense of humor.

Mark leaves his beloved wife Paula, two wonderful daughters who were the joy of his life, and his much larger extended family here at Oracle who came to love him. I know that many of us are inconsolable right now, but we are left with memories and a sense of gratitude… that we had the opportunity to get to know Mark, the opportunity to work with him … and become his friend.