Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is the co-founder and
chief executive officerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of
Oracle CorporationOracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
, one of the world's leading
enterprise softwareEnterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
companies. As of 2011, he is the third wealthiest
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
citizen, with an estimated worth of $33 billion.
Early life
Larry Ellison was born in the
BronxThe Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Florence Spellman, an unwed 19-year-old. Ellison's biological father was an Italian-American U.S. Air Force pilot, who was stationed abroad before Spellman realized that she had become pregnant by him. After Larry Ellison contracted pneumonia at the age of nine months, his mother determined that she was unable to care for him adequately, and arranged for him to be adopted by her aunt and uncle in Chicago. Lillian Spellman Ellison and Louis Ellison adopted him when he was nine months old. Lillian was the second wife of Louis Ellison, an immigrant who had arrived in the United States in 1905 from Russia. Larry Ellison did not meet his biological mother again until he was 48.
Ellison graduated from Eugene Field Elementary School on Chicago's north side in January, 1958 and attended Sullivan High School at least through the fall of 1959 before moving to South Shore.
He was raised in a
Reform JewishReform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
family. Ellison grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in Chicago's
South ShoreSouth Shore is one of 77 well-defined community areas of the City of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. A predominately black neighborhood located along Chicago's southern lakefront, it is a relatively stable and gentrifying neighborhood...
middle-class Jewish neighborhood. Ellison remembers his adoptive mother as warm and loving, in contrast to his austere, unsupportive, and often distant adoptive father, who adopted the name Ellison to honor his point of entry into the USA,
Ellis IslandEllis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
. Louis, his adoptive father, was a modest government employee who had made a small fortune in Chicago real estate, only to lose it during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Ellison was a bright but inattentive student. He left the
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
at the end of his second year, after not taking his final exams because his adoptive mother had just died. After spending a summer in
Northern CaliforniaNorthern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, where he lived with his friend
Chuck WeissCharles Weiss is an American software designer and one of the first employees of Oracle Corporation, having joined in 1982 when there were only 25 employees....
, Ellison attended the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
for one term, where he first encountered computer design. In 1964, at 20 years of age, he moved to Northern California permanently.
Career
During the 1970s, after a brief stint at
Amdahl CorporationAmdahl Corporation is an information technology company which specializes in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products. Founded in 1970 by Dr. Gene Amdahl, a former IBM employee, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu since 1997...
, Ellison worked for
Ampex CorporationAmpex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
. One of his projects was a
databaseA database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
for the CIA, which he named "Oracle".
Ellison was inspired by the paper written by
Edgar F. CoddEdgar Frank "Ted" Codd was an English computer scientist who, while working for IBM, invented the relational model for database management, the theoretical basis for relational databases...
on relational
database systemsA database management system is a software package with computer programs that control the creation, maintenance, and use of a database. It allows organizations to conveniently develop databases for various applications by database administrators and other specialists. A database is an integrated...
called "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks". In 1977, he founded
Software Development Laboratories (SDL). In 1979, the company was renamed
Relational Software Inc., later renamed
Oracle after the flagship product
Oracle databaseThe Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
. He had heard about the IBM System R database, also based on Codd's theories, and wanted Oracle to be compatible with it, but IBM made this impossible by refusing to share System R's code. The initial release of Oracle was Oracle 2; there was no Oracle 1. The release number was intended to imply that all of the bugs had been worked out of an earlier version.
In 1990, Oracle laid off 10% (about 400 people) of its work force because it was losing money. This crisis, which almost resulted in Oracle's bankruptcy, came about because of Oracle's "up-front" marketing strategy, in which sales people urged potential customers to buy the largest possible amount of software all at once. The sales people then booked the value of future license sales in the current quarter, thereby increasing their bonuses. This became a problem when the future sales subsequently failed to materialize. Oracle eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and also to settle out of court
class actionIn law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
lawsuits arising from its having overstated its earnings. Ellison would later say that Oracle had made "an incredible business mistake."
Although IBM dominated the mainframe relational database market with its
DB2The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition is a relational model database server developed by IBM. It primarily runs on Unix , Linux, IBM i , z/OS and Windows servers. DB2 also powers the different IBM InfoSphere Warehouse editions...
and
SQL/DSSQL/DS was IBM's first commercial implementation for its mainframe computers of a DBMS built around the SQL language....
database products, it delayed entering the market for a relational database on
UNIXUnix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
and
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating systems. This left the door open for
SybaseSybase, an SAP company, is an enterprise software and services company offering software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information, using relational databases, analytics and data warehousing solutions and mobile applications development platforms....
, Oracle, and
InformixIBM Informix is a family of relational database management system developed by IBM. It is positioned as IBM's flagship data server for online transaction processing as well as integrated solutions...
(and eventually
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
) to dominate mid-range systems and microcomputers.
Around this time, Oracle fell behind Sybase. In 1990–1993, Sybase was the fastest growing database company and the database industry's darling vendor, but soon fell victim to its
merger maniaThe term "merger mania" is used, as in financial and law journals, to describe a period of high activity in corporate mergers and acquisitions ,with some merged companies then merging yet again into other companies within a few years...
. Sybase's 1993 merger with Powersoft resulted in a loss of focus on its core database technology. In 1993, Sybase sold the rights to its database software running under the Windows operating system to Microsoft Corporation, which now markets it under the name "SQL Server."
In 1994, Informix Software overtook
SybaseSybase, an SAP company, is an enterprise software and services company offering software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information, using relational databases, analytics and data warehousing solutions and mobile applications development platforms....
and became Oracle's most important rival. The intense war between Informix CEO Phil White and Ellison was front page Silicon Valley news for three years. In April, 1997, Informix announced a major revenue shortfall and earnings restatements; Phil White eventually landed in jail, and Informix was absorbed by
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 2000. Also in 1997, Ellison was made a director of
Apple ComputerApple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
after
Steve JobsSteven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
came back to the company. Ellison resigned in 2002, saying that he did not have the time to attend necessary formal board meetings.
Once Informix and Sybase were defeated, Oracle enjoyed years of industry dominance until the rise of
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
in the late 90s and IBM's acquisition of Informix Software in 2001 to complement their
DB2The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition is a relational model database server developed by IBM. It primarily runs on Unix , Linux, IBM i , z/OS and Windows servers. DB2 also powers the different IBM InfoSphere Warehouse editions...
database. Today Oracle's main competition for new database licenses on UNIX,
LinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and Windows operating systems is with IBM's DB2, and with Microsoft SQL Server (which only runs on Windows). IBM's DB2 still dominates the
mainframeMainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
database market.
In April 2009, Oracle announced its intent to buy
Sun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
after a tug of war with
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
. The European Union approved the acquisition by Oracle of
Sun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
on January 21, 2010 and agreed that "Oracle's acquisition of Sun has the potential to revitalize important assets and create new and innovative products". The Sun acquisition also gave Oracle control of the popular
MySQLMySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
open-source database, which Sun had acquired in 2008.
On August 9, 2010, Ellison denounced
Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
's board for firing CEO Mark Hurd, writing: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired
Steve JobsSteven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
many years ago." Ellison and Hurd are close personal friends – Hurd often plays tennis at Ellison's house. Then on September 6, Oracle hired Mark Hurd and made him Co-President alongside Safra A. Catz. Ellison retained the CEO position.
Ellison owns stakes in
Salesforce.comSalesforce.com is an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com hosts the applications off-site...
,
NetSuite NetSuite Inc. is the leading vendor of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service integrated business management software for mid-market enterprises and divisions of large companies, with over 10,000 organizations and a +$225 billion market cap...
, Quark Biotechnology Inc. and Astex Pharmaceuticals.
Compensation
In 2005, Oracle paid Ellison a $975,000 salary, a $6,500,000 bonus, and other compensation of $955,100. In 2007, Ellison earned a total compensation of $61,180,524, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, a cash bonus of $8,369,000, and options granted of $50,087,100. In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $84,598,700, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, a cash bonus of $10,779,000, no stocks granted, and options granted of $71,372,700. In the year ending May 31, 2009 he made $56.8 million.
For a short period in 2000, Ellison was the richest man in the world.
In 2006,
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranked him as the richest Californian.
On July 2, 2009, for the fourth year in a row, Oracle's Board awarded Ellison another 7 million stock options.
On August 22, 2009, it was reported that Ellison would be paid only $1 for his base salary for the fiscal year of 2010, down from the $1,000,000 he was paid in fiscal 2009.
As of March 10, 2010, Ellison was listed on the
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
list of billionaires as the sixth richest person in the world. Ellison is the third richest American, with an estimated net worth of US $28 billion.
On July 27, 2010,
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reported that Ellison was the best-paid executive in the last decade, collecting a total compensation of US $1.84 billion.
Personal life
Ellison has been married and divorced four times. He was married to Adda Quinn from 1967 to 1974. He was married to Nancy Wheeler Jenkins from 1977 to 1978. From 1983 to 1986, he was married to Barbara Boothe: two children were born of this marriage, a son and daughter named David and Megan. Both Megan and David were
executive producersAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of the 2010
Coen BrothersJoel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film
True GritTrue Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed in 1969 starring John Wayne. This version stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges as U.S....
.
On 18 December 2003, Ellison married
Melanie CraftMelanie Craft is an American novelist, who married Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in December 2003. She Larry Ellison in September 2010....
, a
romance novelThe romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
ist, at his Woodside estate. Ellison's friend
Steve JobsSteven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
, former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Inc, was the official wedding photographer, and Representative
Tom LantosThomas Peter "Tom" Lantos was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco...
officiated.
Ellison and Melanie Craft-Ellison
divorced in September 2010.
Yachting
Ellison recently ended his ownership of the
eighth largest yachtA yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
in the world, named
Rising SunRising Sun is a motor yacht designed by the late Jon Bannenberg, and built by Germany's Lürssen. It was originally purchased by Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, and is currently owned by David Geffen. The yacht is the 8th largest in the world with a length of almost 138 metres...
. Ellison sold his remaining shares in the yacht to music and film mogul
David GeffenDavid Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
.
Rising Sun is 453 ft. (138 m) long, and reportedly cost over US $200 million to build.
Ellison is a financier of the
BMW Oracle RacingOracle Racing is an American sailboat racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America’s Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 - representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club....
team, which won the 2010 America's Cup.
Tennis
Ellison has followed professional tennis all his life, and took up the game in 2004. In 2010, he purchased a 50% share in one of the top four tournaments in the United States, the BNP Paribas Open. This purchase saved the tournament from being sold and moved outside of the U.S.
2007 America's Cup
BMW Oracle Racing was the Challenger of Record on behalf of the
Golden Gate Yacht ClubThe Golden Gate Yacht Club is a yacht club founded in 1939 and is the current holder of the America's Cup won by its racing team BMW Oracle Racing.In 1939 the first members built a clubhouse on a barge in the San Francisco Marina...
of San Francisco for the 2007 America's Cup in
Valencia, SpainValencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
until eliminated from the
2007 Louis Vuitton CupThe 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two semi-finals and a final...
challenger selection series in the semi-finals.
2010 America's Cup
On 14 February 2010, Ellison's yacht USA 17 won the second race (in the best of three "deed of gift" series) of the 33rd America's Cup, after winning the first race two days earlier. Securing a historic victory, Ellison and his
BMW OracleOracle Racing is an American sailboat racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America’s Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 - representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club....
team became the first challengers to win a "deed of gift" match. The Cup returned to American shores for the first time since 1995. Ellison was a crew member for the second race.
Previously, Ellison filed several legal challenges, through the
Golden Gate Yacht ClubThe Golden Gate Yacht Club is a yacht club founded in 1939 and is the current holder of the America's Cup won by its racing team BMW Oracle Racing.In 1939 the first members built a clubhouse on a barge in the San Francisco Marina...
, against the way that
Ernesto BertarelliErnesto Bertarelli is a Swiss-Italian billionaire and entrepreneur.Together with his extended family, Bertarelli was ranked 81st in the 2011 annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people compiled and published by Forbes magazine, The family's wealth was estimated at US$10.0...
(also one of the world's richest men) has proposed to organize the 33rd America's Cup following the 2007 victory of Bertarelli's team
AlinghiAlinghi is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup. Bertarelli had raced several smaller yachts named Alinghi previously, but 2003 was his first attempt at the America's Cup...
. The races were finally held in February 2010 in Valencia, Spain.
Private jet
Ellison is a licensed pilot who has owned several aircraft. He was cited by the
City of San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, for violating its limits on late-night takeoffs and landings from
San Jose Mineta International AirportNorman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport serving the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is named for San Jose native Norman Yoshio Mineta, who was Transportation Secretary in the Cabinet of George W...
by planes weighing more than 75,000 pounds (34 019 kg). In January 2000, Ellison sued over the interpretation of the airport rule, contending that his "plane is certified by the manufacturer to fly at two weights: 75,000 pounds, and at 90,000 pounds, for heavier loads or long flights requiring more fuel. But the pilot only lands the plane in San Jose when it weighs 75,000 pounds or less, and has the logs to prove it..."
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled over the matter in June 2001, calling for a waiver for Ellison's jet, but did not invalidate the curfew.
Cars
Ellison owns many exotic cars, including an Audi R8, and a
McLaren F1The McLaren F1 is a supercar designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. Originally a concept conceived by Gordon Murray, he convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and engaged Peter Stevens to design the exterior of the car...
. His favorite is the Acura NSX, which he was known to give as gifts each year during its production. Ellison is also reportedly the owner of a
Lexus LFAThe Lexus LFA is a 2-seat exotic sports coupe produced by Lexus as a concept car, "halo" vehicle, racing prototype, and production model. It is the second model in the F marque line of performance vehicles from Lexus, following the IS F...
and a Lexus LS600hL.
Home
Ellison styled his estimated $110 million
Woodside, CaliforniaWoodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government. The U.S. Census estimated the population of the town to be 5,287 in 2010....
, estate after feudal Japanese architecture, complete with a man-made 2.3 acres (9,307.8 m²) lake and an extensive
seismic retrofitSeismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers,...
(37°24′44.34"N 122°14′51.40"W). In 2004 and 2005, Ellison purchased more than 12 properties in
Malibu, California, worth more than $180 million. The $65 million Ellison spent on five contiguous lots on Malibu's Carbon Beach was the most costly residential transaction in United States history until Ron Perelman sold his
Palm Beach, FloridaThe Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
compound for $70 million later that same year. His entertainment system cost $1 million, and includes a rock concert-sized video projector at one end of a drained swimming pool, using the gaping hole as a giant subwoofer.
In early 2010 Ellison purchased the Astor's Beechwood Mansion in
Newport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
for $10.5 million. The property was the former summer home of the prominent
Astor familyThe Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
.
In 2011 Ellison purchased the 249 acre Porcupine Creek Estate and private golf course in Rancho Mirage, CA for $42.9 million. The property was the former home of
Yellowstone ClubThe Yellowstone Club, also Yellowstone Ski Resort, is an invitation-only residential club, ski resort, and golf resort located in the state of Montana, USA. The Rocky Mountain ski and golf club is located in eastern Madison County, just west of Big Sky, Montana, south of Bozeman and northwest of...
founders Edra and
Tim BlixsethTimothy Lee "Tim" Blixseth is an American real estate developer, record producer, songwriter and timber baron who is best known for co-founding the Yellowstone Club in Montana. Raised in Roseburg, Oregon, Blixseth amassed a fortune in real estate and timber holdings and, in 2006, was featured in...
, sold to Ellison by creditors following their divorce and bankruptcy.
Charitable donations
In order to settle an
insider tradingInsider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
lawsuit arising from Ellison's selling nearly $1 billion of Oracle stock, he was allowed to donate $100 million to his own charitable foundation without admitting wrongdoing. A California judge refused to allow Oracle to pay Ellison's legal fees of $24 million. Ellison's lawyer had argued that were Ellison to pay those fees, it could be construed as an admission of guilt. Ellison's charitable donations to
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
were an issue in that case on the independence of two Stanford professors who evaluated the merits of the case for Oracle.
In response to the
September 11th terrorist attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, Ellison made a controversial offer to donate to the Federal government software that would enable it to build and run a national identification database and issue
ID cardsThere is no true national identity card in the United States of America, in the sense that there is no federal agency with nationwide jurisdiction that directly issues such cards to all American citizens for mandatory regular use...
.
The 2004
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
list of the charitable donations made by the wealthiest 400 Americans stated that Ellison had donated $151,092,103 in the preceding year, about 1% of his estimated personal wealth.
In June 2006, Ellison announced that he would not honor his earlier pledge of $115 million to
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, claiming it was due to the departure of former President
Lawrence SummersLawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...
. Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne announced, ``It was really Larry Summers' brainchild and once it looked like Larry Summers was leaving, Larry Ellison reconsidered... It was Larry Ellison and Larry Summers that had initially come up with this notion."
In August 2010 it was reported that Ellison is one of the 40 billionaires who has signed "
The Giving PledgeThe Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people in the United States to make a commitment to give most of their money to philanthropic causes...
". Ellison wrote: "Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95 percent of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give billions more over time. Until now, I have done this giving quietly—because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private matter."
Further reading
- Leibovich, Mark. (October 30, 2000). "The Outsider, His Business and His Billions". Washington Post, p. A01.
External links
- Profile at Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
- Profile at Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
- Biography at BBC News