Fourth Spot: Lawrence Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August
17, 1944) is the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a
major database software firm. In 2008, Lawrence Ellison lost
$2.5 billion, dropping from a $25 billion fortune to $22.5
billion but still enough to push him from fourteenth richest man
in 2008 to fourth richest man in 2009.
Ellison was born
in New York City to Florence Spellman, a 19-year-old unwed
mother who later placed her nine-month old son for adoption to
her distant relatives. Lillian and Louis Ellison took him into
their home, a two-bedroom apartment located in a modest lower
middle class Jewish neighborhood in South Chicago.
Fortune |
Business |
Country |
Status |
22.5 Billion
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Software |
USA |
Married, 2 children
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Ellison recalled to an interviewer that he had a warm and
loving mother opposite to an austere and unsupportive father.
At South Shore High School, he was a bright but inattentive
student. At 15, he began a long-term relationship that lasted
for five years and ended sorely - depending on whom is asked,
he unsuccessfully proposed marriage either once or twice.
He lasted until the end of his sophomore year at University
of Illinois Urbana-Champaign but dropped out following Lillian's
death. After a summer in Northen California, he returned home
to study at the University of Chicago but left after one quarter.
Ending his attempts to finish college, he set out for California.
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In 1990, Oracle laid off 10 percent of
the work force because of the mismatch between cash and
revenues. The crisis which almost caused Oracle's bankruptcy
came about because of the tactics used by Oracle's sales
force. The salespeople subscribed to an 'up-front' sales
strategy, in which they tried to incent customers to buy
the biggest amounts of software all at once. However,
the customers were delivered software that didn't work
and promised "vapor ware" that didn't exist. Oracle had
to restate earnings twice due to these tactics and the
company would later settle class-action lawsuits that
had been filed because of its flawed financial statements.
Larry Ellison would later say his company made "an incredible
business mistake. (wiki)
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