Oracle President Forced to Admit Affair After Billboards Appear
Sfgate.com reports:
Charles Phillips, told NBC Bay Area: “I had an eight-and-half year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins. My divorce proceedings began in 2008. The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended and we both wish each other well.”
Silicon Valley gossip blog Gawker broke the news of the billboards, which showed Phillips with his arms around Wilkins, both beaming. The ads included the message “You are my soulmate forever!” and featured a link to an online gallery with additional photos of the two together, CharlesPhillipsAndYaVaughnieWilkins.com.
The Web site designer, whose business is based in San Jose, told the popular blog he was hired by Wilkins and informed the site was a gift for Phillips.
Earlier reports that a similar billboard went up in San Francisco were not correct, as the recent storms prevented the ad from being placed.
The theory advanced by Gawker and others is that Wilkins was a spurned lover seeking revenge. Attempts to contact Wilkins were unsuccessful. Her last known address was in Hillsborough.
The site was inaccessible on Friday and the billboards have been or are being taken down. Clear Channel, which owned at least one of the billboards involved, declined to comment.
In February 2009, Phillips was appointed a member of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, according to his biography on Oracle’s Web site. He joined the company in 2003 from investment bank Morgan Stanley. Oracle didn’t respond to an inquiry from The Chronicle.
From a business perspective, observers view the incident as much ado about nothing.“If somebody is handsome and rich, the honey bees will come,” said Trip Chowdhry, managing director at Global Equities Research. “But does it mean it’s bad for business? No. I think this has zero impact whatsoever.”
Hell hath no fury…