Nowadays, there are so many entrepreneurs, millionaires, and billionaires that it is hard to know about them and go over every detail.
However, there are some that, indeed, stand out over others, considering their influence and presence on society. Don’t know who we’re talking about?
People like Lawrence “Larry” Ellison have made history and earned a place on the people we are referring to, and in this case, we will be reviewing his life and let you know why he is someone you should know about.
Starting with his role in Oracle Corporation and all the stocks and stakes he owns in other companies, and the net worth he has accumulated over the years.
Who Is Larry Ellison? – Early Years
Though you will find Lawrence Ellison in several places and searches, he is better known as Larry Ellison. He was born in New York to an unwed Jewish mother while his biological father was an Italian American pilot in the United States Army Air Corps.
Ellison fell ill with pneumonia when he was nine months old. His mother gave Ellison’s child to her aunt and uncle so that he could be adopted and have the life he deserved in terms of financial stability and access to medical treatment.
As a result, Ellison moved to Chicago’s South Shore and has told people during interviews that he remembers his adoptive mother as warm and loving, in contrast to his austere and unsupportive adoptive father.
Ellison was raised in a Reform Jewish home by his adoptive parents, who attended synagogue regularly. However, he has always remained a religious skeptic and never followed the Jewish religion in particular, to the point of refusing to host a bar mitzvah.
During his teenage years, Ellison attended South Shore High School, located in Chicago.
He later received admission to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was enrolled as a premed student.
After his sophomore year, Ellison withdrew from college without taking final exams, after his adoptive mom had died and spent the summer of 1966 living in California.
Then, he attended the University of Chicago, where he studied mathematics and physics but didn’t finish his education either though, there was a huge discovery for him: computer design. Not on after, in 1966, aged 22, he moved to Berkeley, California.
From College Student to Billionaire: Oracle
There is a long story surrounding the design and creation of the big corporation we know nowadays, and yes, spoiler, he is part of the co-founders. However, how did everything start?
Edgar F. Codd’s research into relational database design for IBM inspired him while he was working at Ampex during the 1970s.
This led to the creation of the company that would become Oracle in 1977. Oracle was a highly successful database vendor for mid-and lower-range systems.
Later, Sybase (created in 1984) and Microsoft SQL Server (1989) were also competing against Oracle.
Sybase was the big competitor for the company and even topped the front page of Silicon Valley news for over three years due to their dispute in business and personal life to a certain extent.
Larry took Oracle public in March 1986. Coincidentally, that was one day before lifelong rival Bill Gates took Microsoft public.
By the time this conversion took place, Larry had owned 39% of Oracle, and the company had a market value of $270 million by the end day of trading.
However, not everything was good news.
Oracle was very close to bankruptcy in 1990, and many obstacles were taking place due to a poor administration and some bad decisions.
Oracle was left with just a few months’ worths of cash, having lost more than 50% of its market cap. Larry, whose net worth dropped from $500 million to $150 million at the time, was almost expelled from Oracle.
The company was able to overcome its few months in despair, and Larry earned several thousand and then millions of dollars as compensation and salary in the company.
Also, in 1997, Ellison took the role of director in Apple Computer but resigned not long after in 2002. However, he did earn quite the money during his stay in the company alongside Steve Jobs.
Larry’s most recent and biggest investment lies in Tesla.
In 2018, Larry Ellison spent $1 billion to purchase $3 million worth of Tesla shares. This was over a period of several months.
Elon Musk and Ellison have been friends for many years, and by the time he owned 1.7% of Tesla, it was when he disclosed his stake to SEC.
After the August 2020 5-1 stock split, his 3 million shares were converted to 15 million.
These 15 million shares had a value of up to $13 billion at different points in 2021. On average, they were closer to $10 billion.
Larry Ellison Net Worth: How Much Is in His Bank Account?
Well, it isn’t hard to know where all his money comes from—short answer: Tesla and Oracle.
Larry has had more than a decent and stable career in businesses, and at his 77 years in 2021, he is only making more money, and no one knows until when.
Now, when it comes to his net worth, the latter investment in Tesla provides $10 billion on average, which we have to keep in mind despite how it varies over the months based on the company’s worth and stocks.
However, they don’t affect his total net worth that much since, according to Forbes, he is at $117.3 billion at the moment of writing this article.
Larry’s fortune has increased over the last year, and although in 2020 he had $59 billion, we can notice almost double with his current net worth.
This is all thanks to that today, Ellison holds 22% of Oracle and has pledged that $315 million shares to be used as collateral for personal debt and line of credit.
He has made around $9 billion in Oracle stock sales and dividends since 2003.
His net worth isn’t completely represented in money directly. Instead, Larry has invested in real estate and other properties and some businesses that the entrepreneur hasn’t disclosed.
Larry has a diverse real estate portfolio that includes properties in Hawaii, Japan, Malibu, and homes in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.
His main residence is a 45-acre estate in Woodside, California, that is estimated to be worth at least $200 million.
A 16th-century Japanese estate inspires it. The 45-acre estate includes the main house, a two-bedroom guesthouse, three cottages, and a barn that was converted into a gym. There is also a 3-acre manmade lake with two waterfalls.
Larry spent $180million between 2004 and 2005 to purchase 12 properties in Malibu.
He purchased five contiguous properties on Malibu’s exclusive Carbon Beach, worth $65 million, were his purchases. He spent $10.5 million in 2010 to purchase the Newport, Rhode Island Astor family home and then spent $43 million in 2011 to purchase the Porcupine Creek Estate golf club on Rancho Mirage, California.
In June 2012, Larry spent $300 million to acquire 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai from the Castle & Cooke company. The state of Hawaii owns the remaining 2%.
Larry also purchased Lanai’s Four Seasons Hotel. According to reports, he has spent $500 million of his own funds on infrastructure improvements such as roads and a water treatment plant. He also purchased a state-of-the-art movie theater.
A lifelong tennis fan, Ellison owns the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Coachella, California, and the Indian Wells Masters Tournament.
Social Impact: Charities & Foundations
Many are focused on how much the billionaire spends just making more money and buying stuff he likes.
However, he has made sure to contribute to society and several causes over the years.
His foundation is focused on traditional causes like farming in Africa, provide schooling in India, and helping to eradicate polio.
During this mention, something to keep in mind is that Larry’s foundation has brought some controversy after being shut down in 2020 and relaunched not long after. This was due to provide a response to COVID-19. However, the “issue” lies in the fact that the goals of the foundation aren’t that clear for many.
But if we focus on Larry and how much he has given, he goes over $600 million since he started the foundation in 1997, and all the money comes from his personal acquisitions and net worth.
He has mentioned he will be doing without a doubt to give up his fortune to charity once he dies.
In 2020, he hit the $60 billion mark. However, with $117 billion in his pocket, he still mentions that he is willing to give it up to those who need the money.
The problem with Ellison lies in how particular his donations are in terms of how much the money accomplishes, which is why he has decided to focus on factors and aspects that truly matter for society.
That being said, Larry has donated millions to other charities for COVID-19 and find a treatment or vaccine at the time.
A Role Model to Follow?
When it comes to businesses, entrepreneurship, and how much Larry has accomplished over the years, we can’t say that it isn’t worth focusing on his methods and take him as a role model.
However, he is reckless about his decisions and known for being quite aggressive in accomplishing more in order to make more money.
Don’t get us wrong, we aren’t against an aggressive strategy as long as it works, or you are willing to face the consequences that could happen. But betting on Ellison’s ideas might not be the best option for you.
Instead, focus on considering him an inspiration and person to follow to know you can do it as long as you work hard and have a great idea.
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