Since co-founding Oracle in 1977, Larry Ellison has become one of the world's wealthiest individuals, primarily thanks to his majority stake in the business.
Almost five decades on from co-founding the firm, the tech billionaire continues to make waves in the world of artificial intelligence and technological innovation.
Ellison, who is the largest shareholder of the database software company, briefly dethroned Elon Musk as the richest person in the world. On 10 September, his net worth surged by $89 billion due to Oracle’s latest deal with OpenAI.
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He’s now worth a staggering $349 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
How Larry Ellison started Oracle
Oracle Corporation, one of the largest software companies in the world, is known for its database management systems, cloud services and enterprise software solutions. He owns over 40% of the software company.
Ellison was born in New York City in 1944. Despite being a bright student, he struggled with authority and dropped out of college twice before finally getting a degree in computer science from the University of Illinois.
After college, Ellison moved to California and started working for several tech companies. He was a talented programmer and quickly made a name for himself in the industry. However, Ellison had a vision for a new kind of software company that would revolutionise how businesses manage their data.
In 1977, Ellison teamed up with two friends, Bob Miner and Ed Oates, to start a company called Software Development Laboratories (SDL). The company's goal was to create a new kind of database management system that would be faster and more efficient than anything on the market. Ellison, Miner and Oates worked tirelessly to develop this new software and, in 1979, they released their first product: Oracle.
Oracle was an instant success. Businesses loved the software's speed, efficiency and reliability. Oracle quickly became a go-to database management system for corporations, and the company grew rapidly. By the mid-1980s, Oracle was one of the fastest-growing software companies in the world, competing against software giants like Microsoft, Intel and IBM.
Today, Oracle’s products and services are used by some of the largest corporations in the world, including Walmart, Coca-Cola and Bank of America. According to the company’s annual earnings report, Oracle earned $57.4 billion in revenue, up by 8% from the year before.
Oracle has also made several tech acquisitions. According to marketing platform Thomas, this includes Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion in 2007, Sun Microsystems for $7 billion in 2010, NetSuite for $9.3 billion in 2016, and Cerner for $28.3 billion in 2022.
Larry Ellison's other ventures
Ellison founded the Lanai Resorts LLC, a company that owns two luxury resorts on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. He purchased 98% of the island in 2012 and has since invested in rebuilding the infrastructure and improving the tourism industry on the island. He also resides on the island.
Ellison has also been heavily involved in the America's Cup yacht race, sponsoring and leading his own team, Oracle Team USA. The team won the competition twice under Ellison's leadership.
Ellison was on the board of electric vehicle maker Tesla from December 2018 to August 2022, and owns a minority stake in the company. He contributed around a billion dollars for Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now X, in 2022.
Ellison was also an early investor in healthcare start-up Theranos and founded Sensei Ag in 2018, an agricultural technology company that is developing hydroponic farms in Lanai.
In addition to his business ventures, Ellison has been actively involved in philanthropy. He has donated millions of dollars to various causes, including medical research, education and environmental conservation. His foundation, the Ellison Medical Foundation, has funded research on ageing and age-related diseases.
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