THE OFFICIAL SITE OF LARRY ELLISON

CEO & Founder of Oracle.

Larry Ellison founded Oracle in 1977 and led the company, as its longtime CEO, through more than four decades of growth and evolution, building Oracle into the world’s largest enterprise software provider. Find the latest news on Larry Ellison’s professional life and personal interests. Tune in to his most recent speaking engagements and get more information on his featured events.

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Recognizing the elegace of simple solutions.

A titan of Silicon Valley Ellison is adept at predicting the future capabilities of technology and recognizing that vision. His appreciation of Japanese culture is reflected in his war on complexity recognizing the elegance of simple solutions through a programmer’s perspective. He has held board positions for the most notable companies of the 21st century including Apple and Tesla.

Passion for performance

Ellison’s passion for performance extends beyond computing to flight and sailing–his contributions to professional sailing have brought new technology and techniques to the sport, where he continues to push the boundaries.

Dedicated to sustainability

Ellison’s philanthropy is equally wide-reaching, touching the health of our planet through his contributions to sustainable energy and environmental conservation as well as the health of individuals, exemplified through the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC.

In the press.

As the public face of Oracle since its founding in 1977, Larry Ellison has discussed and demonstrated innovative technologies to the public for more than 40 years. Ellison regularly appears at annual Oracle events such as Oracle OpenWorld to showcase new products and features through video addresses. Ellison’s investments and contributions to Tesla and other notable companies are often covered in industry and mainstream broadcasting, and his support for sailing and tennis receives frequent coverage as well.

Ellison's new SailGP sailing league set to hit the water

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Ellison and Coutts’ new sailing series will feature six national teams competing across the world. Races are planned off the coast of Sydney, Australia; San Francisco, California; New York, New York; Cowes, England; and Marseille, France, culminating in a final showdown for a million-dollar prize. Unlike the America’s Cup regatta, all teams will race identical 50-foot catamarans capable of reaching speeds of more than 50 miles per hour. Technological improvements to the catamaran design have helped bring the art of sailing to the forefront of this competition. Each race will be broadcast live at SailGP.com to introduce the sport to more fans than ever before.

Tesla Adds Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Walgreens Executive to Board

Tesla announced the addition of two new board members, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison and Walgreen Boots Alliance executive Kathleen Wilson-Thompson.

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Ellison brings a wealth of entrepreneurial skills to Tesla and shares the company’s focus on sustainable energy. Ellison is also friends with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and has personally invested in the electric car manufacturer.

“In Larry and Kathleen, we have added a preeminent entrepreneur and a human resources leader, both of whom have a passion for sustainable energy.” – Tesla Board of Directors

Speaking

Ellison is a keynote speaker at multiple Oracle conferences each year. He also appears at a variety of industry and media events.

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Resources

Find Ellison’s full keynote speeches, video announcements, and more information about his philanthropic endeavors and personal ventures.

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Career.

1960's

The early years

Larry Ellison has been developing innovative technologies since 1966. Ellison and colleagues Bob Miner and Ed Oates founded Software Development Labs in 1977, which ultimately became Oracle Corporation. The company’s first commercial product, Oracle Database Version 2, was also the first commercial relational database management system coded in SQL.

1980's

Growth

Oracle grew rapidly under Ellison’s leadership as CEO, doubling its annual revenue year after year throughout the 1980s and going public in 1986. Ellison also served as Oracle’s chief evangelist, led the development of new technologies, helped craft the company’s marketing strategies, and effectively sold Oracle’s products. Oracle’s dramatic growth continued throughout the 1990s as Ellison successfully capitalized on the rise of the internet, establishing his company’s products as the information management systems of choice for many of the world’s largest enterprises.

2000's

CTO & Engineering

In 2004, Ellison elevated Safra Catz to Oracle’s Board of Directors and named her the company’s President. Veteran tech industry executive Mark Hurd joined Catz as co-President in 2010. Hurd and Catz were elevated to serve jointly as CEOs of Oracle in 2014 when Ellison formally stepped down to become the company’s chief technology officer. As CTO, Ellison continues to pursue his lifelong passion for developing innovative hardware and software solutions.

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Larry Ellison is a dedicated philanthropist who has donated to charity throughout his career. In 2010, Ellison signed The Giving Pledge. Signatories commit to donating more than half their wealth to charitable causes. Ellison committed 95 percent of his wealth to charity, publicly announcing his commitment at the suggestion of his friend Warren Buffett, a co-creator of The Giving Pledge.

Ellison started the Ellison Medical Foundation in 1997, to support biomedical research for age-related illnesses and to serve other international healthcare causes. In early 2019, this foundation became The Lawrence Ellison Foundation. In 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to the University of Southern California to create the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC.

Ellison and Oracle also support the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. This organization takes a holistic approach to studying and protecting the endangered mountain gorilla, its habitat, and the people in the surrounding communities.

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Larry Ellison has supported many successful technology-focused businesses with personal investments and other resources over the course of his career. In 1997, Ellison proposed a takeover of Apple, which would have included reinstalling Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Ellison’s longtime friend, as CEO. Though never completed, Ellison’s efforts pushed Apple’s board to reinstate Jobs as CEO. Ellison was the first person Jobs appointed to Apple’s board of directors after his elevation. He served in this role until 2002.

A single 1998 meeting between Ellison and Oracle executives Evan Goldberg and Marc Benioff led to the creation of two of Ellison’s most successful investments — NetSuite and Salesforce. Goldberg founded NetSuite (originally NetLedger) in 1998 with Ellison’s support, receiving $125 million in seed funding from his former boss. Oracle acquired NetSuite in 2016. Benioff left Oracle in 1999 to create Salesforce, receiving $2 million in seed funding from Ellison.

In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk appointed Ellison, his longtime friend, and Walgreens Boots Alliance CHRO Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, to Tesla’s board of directors. Ellison also revealed that he owned three million shares of the electric automaker, making it his second-largest personal investment.

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Ellison was born in New York City in 1944. He grew up in Chicago and moved to Northern California in 1966 to pursue a career in software development.

Ellison enjoys many hobbies, including sailing, tennis, aviation, and the guitar. He created and sponsors the Oracle Team USA yacht racing group, which won the America’s Cup race in 2010 and 2013. In 2019, Ellison announced the creation of a new competitive sailing league, known as SailGP, in partnership with former Oracle Team USA CEO Russell Coutts.

In 2009, Ellison purchased the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, also acquiring the BNP Paribas Open tournament played there. Indian Wells also hosts one of four annual Oracle Challenger Series tournaments, created by Ellison and Oracle CEO Mark Hurd to provide more competitive opportunities for professional and collegiate tennis players.

Ellison holds a pilot’s license and owns several aircraft. He also maintains world-class real estate properties throughout the United States, including Sanbashi, his Japanese-styled home located in Woodside, California; Beechwood in Rhode Island, formerly home to the Astor family; and nearly all of Lanai, the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian islands. Ellison promotes sustainable enterprise on the island and also experiments with innovative agricultural technologies through his Lanai Farms venture.

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