How Larry Ellison became the world’s second-richest person

TEXAS - Mr Larry Ellison dropped out of college before co-founding what eventually grew into one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The fortune he amassed propelled him to the ranks of the uber-rich, and in July he eclipsed Mr Mark Zuckerberg to become the world’s second-wealthiest person. 

His success has been accompanied by a well-documented history of lavish living. That lifestyle – which includes megayachts, private planes, trophy properties and the purchase of a Hawaiian island – sometimes brings about controversies. 

Here’s what you need to know about Mr Ellison’s life and career. 

Who is Larry Ellison and how much is he worth?

Mr Ellison is the co-founder and largest shareholder of Oracle, a software giant that became famous for its namesake database which underpins many of the world’s largest corporate operations. More recently, the company has found success in the competitive market for cloud computing infrastructure, which is dominated by rivals such as Amazon.

Mr Ellison, 80, owns more than 40 per cent of Austin, Texas-based Oracle, as well as a stake in Tesla; a sailing team; the Indian Wells tennis event; and real estate, including Hawaii’s Lanai island.

The tech founder was worth US$251.2 billion (S$322.5 billion) as of July 15, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him behind only Mr Elon Musk. The majority of Mr Ellison’s fortune is derived from the stake in Oracle. 

How did Ellison make his fortune on Oracle?

Raised on the south side of Chicago after being adopted by his mother’s aunt and uncle when he was 9 months old, Mr Ellison dropped out of both the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago and moved to Berkeley, California, taking a computer programming job at Ampex, where he worked on a database called Oracle for the Central Intelligence Agency.

With two partners, Mr Ellison founded what eventually became Oracle in 1977. The company sold shares in an initial public offering on March 12, 1986. He stepped down as Oracle’s chief executive officer in September 2014, taking on the titles of chairman and chief technology officer.

Why is Oracle having a moment right now?

Oracle has invested billions of dollars over the past few years to become a provider of cloud infrastructure – offering computing power and storage over the internet. That has made the company a beneficiary of the market’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence as startups and other AI firms seek more capacity. Oracle’s share price has nearly tripled since ChatGPT’s public release in November 2022.

The stock jumped 5.7 per cent on July 15 after the US government eased some Biden-era restrictions, allowing chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to export certain semiconductors to China. The decision was expected to ease tensions in the global chip supply chain, which bodes well for Oracle, a massive buyer of AI chips for its data centers. 

The latest gain came during a period of explosive growth for the company, which has seen its shares surge more than 90% since late April due to strong revenues and key AI partnerships. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that OpenAI has agreed to rent an unprecedented sum of computing power from Oracle as it builds increasingly powerful AI tools. 

Mr Ellison also has benefited from a close relationship with President Donald Trump. Mr Ellison has been a Trump supporter and Republican donor for years, and since retaking office in January, Mr Trump has rewarded Mr Ellison by elevating Oracle on multiple occasions. 

Mr Ellison and Oracle are part of a US$500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate that Mr Trump first touted in January. Mr Trump has also expressed support for Oracle to acquire a partial stake in TikTok’s US business, which would give Oracle a share of one of the world’s most popular consumer products. Oracle’s bid for the popular video app owned by China’s ByteDance, which includes several other potential investors, has been endorsed by Mr Trump, but it hasn’t been approved by leaders in Beijing. 

What other businesses does Ellison own?

He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on luxury real estate in the past decade, including properties in Malibu and Rancho Mirage, California; the Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island; and an estate in the San Francisco Bay Area modeled on 16th century Japanese feudal architecture.

Mr Ellison has been a major shareholder of Tesla and owned about 1.5 per cent of the company as of the carmaker’s 2022 proxy statement. He stepped down from Tesla’s board of directors in June 2022 and his stake hasn’t been disclosed in subsequent proxies. He also was one of the largest outside backers of Mr Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter. 

What are Ellison’s interests outside of tech?

The software mogul has a history of lavish living. In a 2002 email to the tech founder, an accountant suggested that Mr Ellison “budget and plan” because his spending habits were becoming difficult to sustain, according to a January 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article.

Mr Ellison finances his lifestyle using debt and the proceeds from Oracle stock sales and dividends, which have amounted to more than US$12 billion since 2003, according to an analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg.

The avid sailor partially financed the BMW Oracle Racing team, which won the America’s Cup in February 2010. He sold his stake in Rising Sun, a 138m megayacht, to billionaire David Geffen later that year. His Oracle Team USA defended the America’s Cup in October 2013, defeating a team from New Zealand. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to give away at least 95 per cent of his wealth to charitable causes. 

How has Ellison been involved in Hawaii?

Mr Ellison’s love for Hawaii, which began in his childhood, led to his US$300 million purchase of 98 per cent of the island of Lanai in 2012. There, he has partnered with Mr David Agus – a doctor who treated Mr Ellison’s late best friend, Mr Steve Jobs – to create Sensei, a chain of luxury wellness resorts focused on longevity. His personal connections have brought high-profile visitors including Mr Musk, Tom Cruise and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the once-sleepy island. 

Mr Ellison’s supporters have said his investments have helped revitalise Lanai but there have been complaints that the island has become more hospitable to the super-rich while squeezing out families that have lived there for generations. BLOOMBERG