From the "so that's what $1 billion buys" files:

MySQL co-founder David Axmark is leaving Sun. MySQL developer Kaj Arno broke the news on his blog in which he copied parts of Axmark's resignation letter in which he rages against the authority of Sun.

I have thought about my role at Sun and decided that I am better off in smaller organisations. I HATE all the rules that I need to follow, and I also HATE breaking them. It would be far better for me to "retire" from employment and work with MySQL and Sun on a less formal basis.

Frankly Axmark's departure isn't a big surprise, I would have been more surprised if he had stayed to be honest. MySQL is now much bigger than it once was both in terms of its development and its expected business yield. As well - and this is my view - I'd suspect that Axmark had a certain yield that he earned from the Sun buyout of MySQL it may just be time for him to finally cash in.

Not that he isn't leaving MySQL entirely - he's just 'retiring' as he notes from Sun. I expect that Axmart will continue to be active in actual code development whether at MySQL open source proper or on affiliated efforts.