25+ Larry Ellison Facts That Will Inspire You To Step Up in 2023
Updated · Mar 06, 2023
Larry Ellison is an American businessman, co-founder of Oracle Corporation, and investor.
Coming from a relatively low-income family, Larry Ellison managed to climb up the ladder of success. Now, he is one of the world’s wealthiest people, with a fortune of over $100 billion.
In this article, we’ll see how he made his way to the top. Let’s start with some of the most interesting Larry Ellison facts!
Fascinating Larry Ellison Facts in 2022 (Editor’s Choice)
- As of January 2022, Larry Ellison is the tenth richest person in the world.
- At the beginning of 2022, Larry Ellison’s net worth is estimated at $108 billion.
- It took Larry Ellison 35 years to build Oracle into the software powerhouse we know today.
- In 1986, Oracle raised $31.5 million in its initial public offering.
- On February 14, 2010, Larry Ellison and his BMW Oracle Racing Team won the 33rd America’s Cup.
- In June 2012, Larry Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian Island of Lanai for $300 million.
- Larry Ellison starred in “Iron Man 2.”
Larry Ellison Biography
It is always inspiring to read stories about people who went from zero to hero. Larry Ellison is one of them.
Let’s see where he started from and what he achieved.
1. Larry Ellison is the co-founder of Oracle Corporation.
(Source: Britannica)Larry Ellison will remain in history as the co-founder of Oracle Corporation—one of the biggest software companies in the world. He is also an investor and philanthropist.
But what was he like before he became all that?
2. Larry Ellison was adopted when he was nine months old.
(Source: Britannica)The billionaire Lawrence Joseph Ellison was born on August 17, 1944, in New York City.
When he was nine months old, he caught pneumonia. Incapable of taking care of him, his 19-year-old mother sent him to her aunt and uncle.
Larry Ellison grew up with his adoptive parents in Chicago. He did not meet his biological mother again until he was 48.
3. Larry Ellison has never met his biological father.
(Source: Childhood Biography)Florence Spellman, Larry Ellison’s biological mother, was 19 years old when she gave birth to him. She wasn’t married to his father, and Larry has never met him.
The only information available about Larry Ellison’s biological father is that he served as a pilot in the US military.
4. Larry Ellison never finished college.
(Source: Achievement)The great entrepreneur-to-be studied at the University of Illinois. However, his adoptive mother passed away when he was preparing for the final exams in his second year. He dropped out.
Next fall, Larry Ellison decided to enroll at the University of Chicago. However, he dropped out again after the first semester.
5. Lawrence Joseph Ellison is Jewish.
(Source: Famousbio)Officially, Larry Ellison’s religion is Judaism.
But, although raised in a religious family, Larry Ellison has never been a firm believer. He even refused to have his Bar Mitzvah.
6. Larry Ellison has been married four times.
(Source: MARKET REALIST)Larry Ellison married his first wife, Ada Quinn, in 1967. Their marriage was marked by financial difficulties.
Ellison spent money extravagantly and dreamt of becoming a millionaire. Ada got tired of this and filed for divorce in 1974.
7. Larry’s second wife was Nancy Wheeler Jenkins.
(Source: MARKET REALIST)They married six months after he founded his first company. However, the couple separated a year later.
When Jenkins left Ellison, she gave up any claim on his company for the modest amount of $500.
8. Barbara Booth was Larry Ellison’s third wife.
She was the only one who gave him children—a son, David, and a daughter, Meghan.
Larry Ellison’s last marriage was to Melanie Craft, a romance novelist. They were together from 2003 to 2010.
9. Larry Ellison is dating the young Nikita Kahn.
(Source: MARKET REALIST)Nikita Kahn is a Ukrainian model, entrepreneur, and animal activist. She was born in 1991 in Ukraine but moved to the US as a teenager.
The age gap between Larry Ellison and Nikita Kahn is 47 years. As of January 2022, Larry Ellison’s age is 77. He has always said he feels young at heart, though.
10. Larry Ellison doesn’t owe his youthful look to plastic surgery.
(Source: Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle)Despite being in his 70s, the business tycoon is incredibly young-looking.
He claims he has never had any plastic surgery (except for fixing his broken nose years ago).
Larry Ellison shares that he regularly takes supplements stimulating the production of testosterone and melatonin.
11. Larry Ellison has an enviable collection of cars.
(Source: GoMechanic)In September 2020, Larry Ellison was spotted driving a Lexus LS 600h L. Presumably, he also owns an Audi R8, McLaren F1, and Lexus LFA.
12. Larry Ellison signed the Giving Pledge in 2010.
(Source: Business Insider)In an open letter, Larry Ellison promised to donate 95% of his wealth.
Even though the billionaire lives a lavish lifestyle, he also supports a number of philanthropic causes. He mainly focuses on medical research and education.
13. Larry Ellison starred in “Iron Man 2.”
(Source: Forbes)One of the less-known facts about Larry Ellison is that he has a role in “Iron Man 2.” In the movie, he is referred to as the “Oracle of Oracle.”
He shares the spotlight with Elon Musk.
Larry Ellison Career
After the intriguing facts about Larry Ellison’s personal life, we continue the list with his career story.
14. Larry Ellison’s first job was for Ampex Corporation.
(Source: History Computer)There, he was in charge of data management and computer programming.
While working at the Ampex Corporation, Larry Ellison met his Oracle co-founders—Ed Oates and Bob Miner.
15. Larry Ellison founded his first company with two other collaborators in 1977.
(Source: History Computer)The three entrepreneurs named their company Software Development Laboratories. Initially, it was focused on building data management and other software.
The goal of the Ellison-Oates-Miner trio was to develop IBM-compatible databases.
16. The company’s first product was called Oracle.
(Source: Britannica)Oracle was the first commercial relational database program to use SQL (Structured Query Language). The US Air Force was the program’s first customer.
17. Software Development Laboratories was renamed Oracle in 1982.
(Source: Britannica)Larry Ellison and colleagues changed their company’s name to Oracle in 1982. It went public in 1986.
In 1987, Oracle became the largest data management firm in the world.
18. Larry Ellison was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 1990.
(Source: Investopedia)The businessman has been in the spotlight for a long time, so some Larry Ellison facts are bound to be forgotten.
However, this was a big achievement in his eventful life.
In 1990, Harvard Business School named Larry Ellison Entrepreneur of the Year.
19. Larry Ellison became a millionaire at the age of 42.
(Source: Inc.)Unlike other entrepreneurs who became millionaires at a very young age, Larry Ellison made his first million at the age of 42 in 1986.
That same year, Bill Gates became a billionaire.
Larry Ellison made his first billion seven years later. He achieved this thanks to the immense growth of Oracle.
20. Larry Ellison made his money through hard work.
(Source: Investopedia)From a dropout to a billionaire, Larry Ellison worked hard for his money. He worked as a programmer for around ten years before co-founding Oracle.
After establishing the company, Larry Ellison continued to strive for the best.
21. As of January 2022, Larry Ellison’s net worth is over $100 billion.
(Source: Celebrity Net Worth)Oracle’s CEO net worth is estimated at $114 billion in January 2022. This makes him the tenth richest person in the world.
22. Larry Ellison stepped down as Oracle’s CEO in 2014.
(Source: npr)He announced the news on September 18, 2014. After 37 years on the post, Larry Ellison decided to step down.
He didn’t leave the company, though. He became executive chairman and chief technology officer.
23. Larry Ellison is the second-largest individual shareholder of Tesla.
(Source: Forbes)Larry Ellison owns over 15 million shares of Tesla. He comes second after the electric vehicle company’s CEO, Elon Musk.
Larry Ellison became a board member of Tesla in 2018 after buying three million shares.
24. The business tycoon lives a lavish lifestyle.
(Source: Elite Daily)One of the well-known Larry Ellison facts is how lavishly he spends his money.
Larry Ellison owns a gigantic golf course, multi-billion dollar portfolio in real estate, a few jets and planes, and an island.
25. Larry Ellison had a 138-meters long yacht.
(Source: Club Yacht)The superyacht Rising Sun was built in 2004. It’s one of the largest yachts in the world with its 138 meters in length.
It cost Larry Ellison more than $200 million to build Rising Sun. However, he sold it to David Geffen, founder of Asylum Records.
26. The billionaire Larry Ellison owns the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
(Source: Indian Wells Tennis Garden)Another of the many impressive facts about Larry Ellison is that he owns the Indian Wells tennis tournament.
He bought it in 2009 together with the BNP Paribas Open.
27. In December 2020, Larry Ellison moved to Hawaii.
(Source: Vox)During the coronavirus outbreak in December 2020, Larry Ellison relocated to the island Lanai.
He announced he’ll be working from there via Zoom. Since he owns almost the entire island, he has invested quite a lot in it.
28. Larry Ellison dreams of turning Lanai into a “health utopia.”
(Source: South China Morning Post)In 2018, the business tycoon established a wellness company called Sensei. The three main areas it works in are global food supply, nutrition, and sustainability.
Sensei has two hydroponic greenhouses. The in-house restaurant Nobu uses homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers.
The owner of Oracle and Sensei also built a luxury spa on the island. It costs $3,000 per night, but it’s a rather special wellness center.
Guests set physical and mental goals for their stay. The spa then tracks their nutrition, sleep, and blood flow.
Larry Ellison’s dream is to create “the first economically viable, 100% green community” in Lanai.
29. At the beginning of 2020, Larry Ellison reduced or eliminated business rent in Lanai.
(Source: South China Morning Post)When the coronavirus arrived in Lanai, Larry Ellison reduced or completely eliminated rent for businesses.
He also paid the full wages and benefits to his employees.
30. Larry Ellison sued his neighbors for blocking his view.
(Source: albawaba)There are plenty of fun facts about Larry Ellison. Here is our favorite one.
The owner of Oracle once sued his neighbors because their trees were blocking the view from his house.
The case eventually ended with an agreement between the two parties, and Larry’s neighbors cut off the trees.
Wrap Up
The story of Larry Ellison is yet another proof of how far a strong will and a sharp mind can take you. The man who grew up in poverty is one of the richest men on Earth!
We hope that his story serves you as an inspiration to dream big and achieve your goals.
Which of the above-mentioned Larry Ellison facts fascinates you the most?
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