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SAN FRANCISCO: A co-president of software maker Oracle acknowledges he had an affair with a woman he was shown snuggling with on billboards in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco.

Charles Phillips released a statement Thursday about his relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins after blogs went abuzz over the mysterious billboards.

"I had an 81/2 year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins," Phillips said.

"My divorce proceedings began in 2008. The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended and we both wish each other well."

This undated photo provided by Jen Gallardo shows a billboard on the corner of 52nd St. and Broadway in New York featuring a photo of Charles Phillips and YaVaughnie Wilkins. Phillips, a co-president of software maker Oracle, acknowledges he had an affair with a woman he was shown snuggling with on billboards in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco. (AP Photo/www.jengallardo.com) MANDATORY CREDIT NO SALES

Wilkins did not respond to calls for comment, and no one has taken credit for the billboards, which were taken down by Friday.

The billboards directed viewers to a Web site, charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com, which is now out of service.

The site included pictures purported to be of the pair, organized by yearly albums starting in 2001.

The pictures appeared to show Wilkins and Phillips at parties, on vacation and hanging out with friends.

The site also included digital images of love letters supposedly sent to Wilkins from Phillips and recordings of the pair singing karaoke.

The man who designed the site, Bela Kovacs, told The Wall Street Journal that Wilkins commissioned the site in late summer.

Kovacs said he assumed the site was for a happy couple and he never met Phillips.

Kovacs told The New York Post that Wilkins told him the site, which cost about $1,400, was a gift for Phillips.

A former Marine, Phillips is a co-president of Redwood Shores-based Oracle Corp.

According to the company's Web site, he was appointed last year to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. - AP