7 ms·

Oracle is in course to make Larry Ellison the world’s richest man

42 points by ptype 3y ago

rufus_foreman 3y ago
Richest man? This is a violation of the well-known rule, "Do not fall into the trap of anthropomorphising Larry Ellison".
turtleyacht 3y ago
on* course
fragmede 3y ago
> Oracle is *on course to make Larry Ellison the world’s *third-richest man
vr46 3y ago
"Larry, you don't need any more money" - Steve Jobs (https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-larry-ellison-2011-10?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-larry-ellison-201...)
- ksec 3y ago
  >Jobs responded by saying, "I think if I went back to Apple and didn't own any of Apple, and you didn't own any of Apple, I'd have the moral high ground." >Ellison's response: "Steve, that's really expensive real estate, this moral high ground." I still have vivid memory of this reading it 10+ years ago. It paints so much character to Steve as a person. Which is mostly considered as an Ass Hole on HN post 2014.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    A righteous asshole is still an asshole. But I always thought of Jobs as more like a good coach; he might be demanding and perhaps even tempestuous at times, but people chose to work with him because he drove them and their team to produce.
miohtama 3y ago
Good lawyers. Good company.
pedalpete 3y ago
https://archive.is/ECLWk https://archive.is/ECLWk
gary_0 3y ago
Only cream and bastards rise, and I'm not sure about the cream.
- oilchange 3y ago
  [dead]
  - doubled112 3y ago
    I suppose an aquarium is just a small pond. Floats to the top or sticks to everything.
    - gary_0 3y ago
      That's why you get an algae eater fish. When I was a kid we had a fish tank with an algae eater. He was fun to watch.
- euroderf 3y ago
  Tech is like a septic tank. It's the really big chunks that rise to the top.
svaha1728 3y ago
Crushed it... and many people in the process.
floatinglotus 3y ago
Rolls eyes. Oracle is such a monstrosity of a company, it constantly shoots itself in the foot and makes bad decisions because of their enterprise-licensing-DNA. Every time I read a story about Oracle doing well I have to check the source and am extremely suspicious.
midoridensha 3y ago
Better him than Elon, at least. Ellison is smart enough not to constantly show himself as a buffoon in public.
hourago 3y ago
> During the company’s latest quarterly earnings call on June 12th the septuagenarian rhapsodised youthfully about artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest cloud-computing technology. The joy of writing about the rich while ignoring society struggles.- The Economist
WisNorCan 3y ago
Oracle is one of those companies like Microsoft which many in the tech industry wrote off years ago. Neither one qualified for the illustrious FAANG acronym. Ideally, when these things happen people would examine their blindspots.
- 0xr0kk3r 3y ago
  Who is this "many" you speak of? And why are you chiding the hype machine for not including Oracle in its acronym? Put aside the online rags trying to grab eyeballs and look at investors. My RIA has been using Oracle in portfolios for decades: Oracle has been sitting quietly in my portfolio for over 25 years, just doing its thing being a solid stock and paying dividends. There are many other blue-chips out there that focus on providing a reliable product instead of being some sexy risky growth stock that grabs all the media attention.
- hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
  Get rid of fb, enter Microsoft and Oracle MAANGO
- nailer 3y ago
  I’m still writing Oracle off. It might be profitable but it’s not influential or innovative, and because of the later it will eventually die.
  - heelix 3y ago
    I'm less sure about that. Back in 2007 or so, our company was gobbled up by Oracle. Part of that process, I was the propeller head they sent with the suites to be screened by Larry. Very first question: Why you wearing a suite? He knew our Java app, knew the space, and really asked good questions. One of the more intimidating interviews I've ever done. The nature of Oracle is they are willing to evaluate if things are working or not. They build in house, they buy where they think they have a gap. The two units will be kept somewhat separate while they compete. Eventually there will be just one. To the outside world, it is a bit of a WTF on the overlapping product list. You see the same sort of competitive, aggressive nature with their Sales folks. Hunters, not farmers. What I don't see Oracle doing is pulling a Rooster.com. They likely will figure out the 'next big thing' by making sure there is a market for it, building internally and then buying up the talent that flew just a tad too close to the sun - and make something that gives a maintenance stream. When you see them doing it, you can bet it has hit the point where it will be profitable for them.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
almost_usual 3y ago
[flagged]
euroderf 3y ago
Troll Proposal: Make an SQLite add-on that accepts Oracle SQL and configuration. Enhance, with verve.
- xkcd-sucks 3y ago
  There is the "orafce" Postgres extension; presumably it's pretty popular and well maintained since AWS RDS Postgres includes it
saaaaaam 3y ago
I always find it strange that the “wealth” of people like Larry Ellison is based on the public market price of their companies. He owns 42% or Oracle, and so there is no way that he could realise that value at current market rates. Oracle has more debt than it has assets, and a significant proportion of that debt has been used to implement a stock buy back, putting cash in Larry’s pocket and increasing his ownership share of the company, and therefore his nominal wealth. If the company can keep borrowing it could buy back more of the stock giving him majority ownership of a company that would technically be worth less than nothing, and become the richest man in the world. Wizardry! (I know that’s not how valuation of companies like this works, but even so…)
- chii 3y ago
  The debt is collaterallised on the assets of the company. The debt servicing will require income which, which would have been taxed, except that payment of interest is pretax. Therefore, the buyback is beneficial because of the tax savings.
- blibble 3y ago
  according to yahoo finance the company has a 10 day volume of 16.7 million shares with 2.7 billion shares outstanding if larry has 1.1 billion shares it would take a few months to unwind that position without much market impact if he wanted it done faster he would have to pay more though
  - darzu 3y ago
    Do u really think the price would stay stable while the CEO sells of his whole stake?
    - bionsystem 3y ago
      He would have to sell slowly to get liquidity at a stable price. Which means he would have to file some forms that says he is selling before he can finish, which means he would have to come up with a narrative that's convincing the market that the company is still worth market price. I'd say It's not impossible but quite unlikely that he can sell it all at current market price.
Gud 3y ago
Every time I see these articles I smile to myself. Do people seriously think these guys are richer than Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud? Or Vladimir Putin? They have nation states at their disposal. Golden palaces. Large armies. National oil and gas industries under their control. Their wealth and power is so obscene it’s hard to even quantify.
- cntlzw 3y ago
  Can't agree more. Imagine you own a resource that every one on the planet needs. Pretty much everyone on the planet is your customer. You have a monopoly. Little to no competition. You control the prices. No need to pay taxes. You are the government, the police and in some cases even the religion. Ellison can't beat that.
- constantcrying 3y ago
  At these scales "wealth" becomes almost impossible to quantify in any meaningful way. These lists gather some rather arbitrary metrics and combine them into a single number. Comparison only makes sense within a narrow field, comparing Musk, Bezos, etc. is somewhat reasonable as their wealth is mostly the value of their companies multiplied by their ownership percentage. Comparing the Saudi regent to an american buisiniess man in networth seems quite meaningless.
- expertentipp 3y ago
  > They have nation states at their disposal Owning an island inhabited by people gets him close. His only mistake was being born in wrong country. General mindset is the same.
- namaria 3y ago
  I honestly think such lists and media attention to some or another private person who owns a big chunk of a highly valued publicly listed company is a distraction. It's designed to keep the public's attention from the reality of the old fashioned monarchies that still rule over half the world's population. All the ink in the world can't change the fact that Russia and China are ruled now as they were in the 9th century: top dog calls the shots and ices enemies.

42 points by ptype 3y ago

Richest man? This is a violation of the well-known rule, "Do not fall into the trap of anthropomorphising Larry Ellison".

turtleyacht 3y ago

on* course

fragmede 3y ago

> Oracle is *on course to make Larry Ellison the world’s *third-richest man

vr46 3y ago

"Larry, you don't need any more money" - Steve Jobs (https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-larry-ellison-2011-10?r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-larry-ellison-201...)

ksec 3y ago
>Jobs responded by saying, "I think if I went back to Apple and didn't own any of Apple, and you didn't own any of Apple, I'd have the moral high ground." >Ellison's response: "Steve, that's really expensive real estate, this moral high ground." I still have vivid memory of this reading it 10+ years ago. It paints so much character to Steve as a person. Which is mostly considered as an Ass Hole on HN post 2014.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  A righteous asshole is still an asshole. But I always thought of Jobs as more like a good coach; he might be demanding and perhaps even tempestuous at times, but people chose to work with him because he drove them and their team to produce.

miohtama 3y ago

Good lawyers. Good company.

pedalpete 3y ago

https://archive.is/ECLWk https://archive.is/ECLWk

gary_0 3y ago

Only cream and bastards rise, and I'm not sure about the cream.

oilchange 3y ago
[dead]
- doubled112 3y ago
  I suppose an aquarium is just a small pond. Floats to the top or sticks to everything.
  - gary_0 3y ago
    That's why you get an algae eater fish. When I was a kid we had a fish tank with an algae eater. He was fun to watch.
euroderf 3y ago
Tech is like a septic tank. It's the really big chunks that rise to the top.

svaha1728 3y ago

Crushed it... and many people in the process.

floatinglotus 3y ago

Rolls eyes. Oracle is such a monstrosity of a company, it constantly shoots itself in the foot and makes bad decisions because of their enterprise-licensing-DNA. Every time I read a story about Oracle doing well I have to check the source and am extremely suspicious.

midoridensha 3y ago

Better him than Elon, at least. Ellison is smart enough not to constantly show himself as a buffoon in public.

hourago 3y ago

> During the company’s latest quarterly earnings call on June 12th the septuagenarian rhapsodised youthfully about artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest cloud-computing technology. The joy of writing about the rich while ignoring society struggles.- The Economist

WisNorCan 3y ago

Oracle is one of those companies like Microsoft which many in the tech industry wrote off years ago. Neither one qualified for the illustrious FAANG acronym. Ideally, when these things happen people would examine their blindspots.

0xr0kk3r 3y ago
Who is this "many" you speak of? And why are you chiding the hype machine for not including Oracle in its acronym? Put aside the online rags trying to grab eyeballs and look at investors. My RIA has been using Oracle in portfolios for decades: Oracle has been sitting quietly in my portfolio for over 25 years, just doing its thing being a solid stock and paying dividends. There are many other blue-chips out there that focus on providing a reliable product instead of being some sexy risky growth stock that grabs all the media attention.
hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
Get rid of fb, enter Microsoft and Oracle MAANGO
nailer 3y ago
I’m still writing Oracle off. It might be profitable but it’s not influential or innovative, and because of the later it will eventually die.
- heelix 3y ago
  I'm less sure about that. Back in 2007 or so, our company was gobbled up by Oracle. Part of that process, I was the propeller head they sent with the suites to be screened by Larry. Very first question: Why you wearing a suite? He knew our Java app, knew the space, and really asked good questions. One of the more intimidating interviews I've ever done. The nature of Oracle is they are willing to evaluate if things are working or not. They build in house, they buy where they think they have a gap. The two units will be kept somewhat separate while they compete. Eventually there will be just one. To the outside world, it is a bit of a WTF on the overlapping product list. You see the same sort of competitive, aggressive nature with their Sales folks. Hunters, not farmers. What I don't see Oracle doing is pulling a Rooster.com. They likely will figure out the 'next big thing' by making sure there is a market for it, building internally and then buying up the talent that flew just a tad too close to the sun - and make something that gives a maintenance stream. When you see them doing it, you can bet it has hit the point where it will be profitable for them.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

almost_usual 3y ago

[flagged]

euroderf 3y ago

Troll Proposal: Make an SQLite add-on that accepts Oracle SQL and configuration. Enhance, with verve.

xkcd-sucks 3y ago
There is the "orafce" Postgres extension; presumably it's pretty popular and well maintained since AWS RDS Postgres includes it

saaaaaam 3y ago

I always find it strange that the “wealth” of people like Larry Ellison is based on the public market price of their companies. He owns 42% or Oracle, and so there is no way that he could realise that value at current market rates. Oracle has more debt than it has assets, and a significant proportion of that debt has been used to implement a stock buy back, putting cash in Larry’s pocket and increasing his ownership share of the company, and therefore his nominal wealth. If the company can keep borrowing it could buy back more of the stock giving him majority ownership of a company that would technically be worth less than nothing, and become the richest man in the world. Wizardry! (I know that’s not how valuation of companies like this works, but even so…)

chii 3y ago
The debt is collaterallised on the assets of the company. The debt servicing will require income which, which would have been taxed, except that payment of interest is pretax. Therefore, the buyback is beneficial because of the tax savings.
blibble 3y ago
according to yahoo finance the company has a 10 day volume of 16.7 million shares with 2.7 billion shares outstanding if larry has 1.1 billion shares it would take a few months to unwind that position without much market impact if he wanted it done faster he would have to pay more though
- darzu 3y ago
  Do u really think the price would stay stable while the CEO sells of his whole stake?
  - bionsystem 3y ago
    He would have to sell slowly to get liquidity at a stable price. Which means he would have to file some forms that says he is selling before he can finish, which means he would have to come up with a narrative that's convincing the market that the company is still worth market price. I'd say It's not impossible but quite unlikely that he can sell it all at current market price.

Gud 3y ago

Every time I see these articles I smile to myself. Do people seriously think these guys are richer than Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud? Or Vladimir Putin? They have nation states at their disposal. Golden palaces. Large armies. National oil and gas industries under their control. Their wealth and power is so obscene it’s hard to even quantify.

cntlzw 3y ago
Can't agree more. Imagine you own a resource that every one on the planet needs. Pretty much everyone on the planet is your customer. You have a monopoly. Little to no competition. You control the prices. No need to pay taxes. You are the government, the police and in some cases even the religion. Ellison can't beat that.
constantcrying 3y ago
At these scales "wealth" becomes almost impossible to quantify in any meaningful way. These lists gather some rather arbitrary metrics and combine them into a single number. Comparison only makes sense within a narrow field, comparing Musk, Bezos, etc. is somewhat reasonable as their wealth is mostly the value of their companies multiplied by their ownership percentage. Comparing the Saudi regent to an american buisiniess man in networth seems quite meaningless.
expertentipp 3y ago
> They have nation states at their disposal Owning an island inhabited by people gets him close. His only mistake was being born in wrong country. General mindset is the same.
namaria 3y ago
I honestly think such lists and media attention to some or another private person who owns a big chunk of a highly valued publicly listed company is a distraction. It's designed to keep the public's attention from the reality of the old fashioned monarchies that still rule over half the world's population. All the ink in the world can't change the fact that Russia and China are ruled now as they were in the 9th century: top dog calls the shots and ices enemies.