Lawrence Ellison is a 65-year old American businessman who is a co-founder of Oracle Corporation, currently one of the largest enterprise software companies in the world. He has been its chief executive officer since its establishment in 1977. Currently, he is the 4th richest person in the world, as declared by the Forbes list of billionaires, with a net worth of around $27 billion. He is also the 3rd richest American.
Ellison embarked on his humble beginnings in Manhattan, New York, where he was born on August 17, 1944 to an unwed Jewish mother. He was given away by his mother and was adopted by Lillian and Louis Ellison when he was only nine months old. He spent his early life in a middle-class neighborhood in Chicago, but moved to northern California when he was twenty years old to start his career in the computer software industry. He began his career in Ampex Corporation in the 1970s, where he created a database for the CIA as one of his projects. Ellison named it “Oracle.” Later on, he established his own company, Software Development Laboratories, in 1977. He renamed his company as “Oracle” after the Oracle database, the company’s flagship product.
In 1997, he became a director of Apple Computer after long-time friend Steve Jobs returned to the company. Edison left Apple in 2002 however, citing time constraints.
Lawrence Ellison has led Oracle to become one of the biggest software makers in the world today. He has earned millions in compensation packages from Oracle, including base salaries, bonuses, and stock options. In 2000, he actually became the richest man in the world, albeit briefly. In 2005, he was ranked as the ninth richest in the world, with an estimated net worth of US $18.4 billion. In 2006, he was declared as the richest Californian.