In an impassioned blog heralding the beginning of a new era for Sun Microsystems as mentoree takes over from mentor, Jonathan Schwartz (pictured) used his industry-famous blog on Tuesday to sing the praises of the man he'd just succeeded as CEO of the company: Scott McNealy.

"There is no single individual who has created more jobs around the world than you," Schwartz wrote, apparently echoing word for word an e-mail he sent to his CEO to boost his morale after a particularly savage press attack two years ago, some time in 2004.

It was apparently a moreale-booster that did not hesitate to portray McNealy in the best possible light:

"And unlike Henry Ford and some of the industrialists that preceded you, not all of those folks just work for Sun - I'm not talking hundreds or thousands of jobs, I'm talking millions. They ended up in America and India, Indonesia and Antarctica, Madagascar, Mexico, Brazil and Finland. They ended up everywhere. Everywhere the network travels."

"it was one of the rare days at Sun where I was more enthusiastic than Scott," Schwartz adds, self-aware as ever. Here's what he want on to tell McNealy that day:

"No single individual has spawned so many startups, fueled so much venture investment, or raised so much capital without actually trying - just with a vision of the future that gets more obvious by the day.

No single individual has so effectively created and promoted the technologies at the heart of a new world emerging around us. A world in which the demand for network computing technology will never decline - as we share more family photos, watch more digital movies, do more banking on-line, build more communities on line, run our supply chains, automate our governments or educate our kids.

And no single individual, outside my family, has been a greater influence on my life - I am quite confident the same is true for millions of network consumers across the world. It's probably less obvious to them as it is to me. You have defined for me what tenacity means. What integrity, courage and commitment mean. Inside of work, and outside."

Next came Schwartz's attempt to answer in advance the industry's most obvious question: how will he, Schwartz, cope with having McNealy, now that he's been "kicked upstairs," looking over his shoulder? Here's Schwartz's own take:

"I'm thrilled you're sticking around for the next twenty years. To lend that confidence to the decisions I make ... and to send me the e-mail boosts I've needed in the past, and I know I'll need in the future. It's not your fingerprints that will be all over our return to prominence, it'll be your footprints right underneath it."

Does anyone believe that he means it? That is a matter of judgement, and everyone will have their own view.

   

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