Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison is the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Software, and the 6th richest man in the world. However, unlike many of his contemporaries in the business world, Ellison was not born into a successful or rich family, and had to teach himself many of the skills that took him to where he is today.

Ellison was born in 1944 in the Bronx in New York. His mother was 19 years old and his father was unknown, and before his 1st birthday, Ellison was sent to live with his great aunt and uncle in Chicago’s South Shore neighbourhood. While he grew close to his adopted mother, he often clashed with his adopted father. Ellison has previously stated that one of his major motivations to succeed was his adopted father’s apparent lack of belief in him.

His career didn’t get off to a good start however. He dropped out of University when his adoptive mother died of cancer, and despite later enrolling in another course, he dropped out again after one semester. However, it was during this time that Ellison taught himself computer programming skills while studying for a physics course. After dropping out for the second time, Ellison moved to California and spent almost a decade moving from job to job, gaining experience as a computer technician and programmer.

In 1977, Ellison and two of his colleagues decided to form their own company, which they called Software Development Labs. They set about creating the first relational database management system, something which had only previously been theorised, and had been treated with some trepidation by the larger software companies of the time, such as IBM. The CIA became one of the first customers of the new ‘Oracle’ database management system, and provided the funding for Ellison and his colleagues to develop the software for commercial release.

Throughout the early 1980s, the popularity of Oracle software, not to mention Ellison’s riches, grew rapidly, and in 1983 the company changed their name to Oracle Corporation. Sales of the software doubled each year, turning Oracle into a billion dollar brand. Despite a dip in the late 1980s, the company came back strong throughout the 1990s, particularly capitalising on the internet boom in the latter half of the decade by shifting its focus towards online business software packages. At the beginning of the 21st century, Oracle bought out many other software companies, both small and large, extending the reach of the company as well as its own wealth.

In his personal life, Ellison is a huge boating and sailing enthusiast, and in 2010 became the first American to win the historic America’s Cup boat race in 15 years. He has also owned several private jets including ex-military fighter jets, as well as yachts, and an array of sports cars.

Ellison is seen by many as being outspoken, competitive and aggressive in his business tactics. His ability as a businessman and manager has been questioned, and he has also been accused of being too reckless. However, it was this recklessness that allowed Ellison and his company to take on the development of a technology that other companies were wary of investing in – the same technology that led to him being the 6th richest man in the world today.

On the left is Oracle Corportation's headquarters, located in San Francisco.

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