(Reuters) -Oracle on Monday named insiders Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as co-CEOs, replacing Safra Catz, who was named vice chair of the board after 11 years at the helm.Catz, who will continue as a director on Oracle's board, was instrumental in shaping the company's AI strategy, helping it win some of the biggest multi-year contracts for data centers and cloud services from top industry players.Shares of the company were down more than 1% in premarket trading. They are up about 85% this year amid an AI-powered surge, which has put the company's valuation near a trillion dollar mark.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOracle shares have outperformed tech stalwarts Microsoft and Alphabet this year, with the company emerging as a front-runner for new cloud deals.Co-founded by tech mogul Larry Ellison, Oracle is also at the center of high-profile discussions to keep TikTok operating in the United States, and all data on the app's American users will be stored on U.S. cloud computing infrastructure run by Oracle, Reuters has reported.In his current role, Sicilia oversees cloud-based industry-specific applications and AI solutions across vertical healthcare, financial services and retail, while Magouyrk manages Oracle's underlying cloud infrastructure platform that powers these applications.Magouyrk joined Oracle in 2014 from Amazon Web Services, while Sicilia joined Oracle through the acquisition of Primavera Systems, the company said.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMagouyrk will receive stock options to purchase $250 million in Oracle shares, while Sicilia will receive stock options to purchase $100 million worth of company shares.Oracle also reaffirmed its financial forecast provided earlier this month, where it said it was expecting booked revenue at its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure business to exceed half a trillion dollars, pushing the stock to record highs.(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)