Ellison resigns as NetLedger chairman

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison has stepped down as chairman of NetLedger, in which he owns a majority stake, the software hosting start-up announced Thursday. Replacing Ellison as chairman is Evan Goldberg, the company's former chief executive. The company promoted its president and chief operating officer, Zach Nelson, to Goldberg's former post. Ellison will remain a member of NetLedger's board.

Privately held NetLedger, launched in 1998, provides small companies with hosted accounting and selling applications called the Oracle Small Business Suite. NetLedger competes with Corio, Salesforce.com, Salesnet, and Upshot in the hosted-applications market.