Larry Ellison
From College Dropout to Becoming 3rd Richest Person in the US
By – Sanjay Maurya
The American businessman and entrepreneur Larry Ellison (Lawrence Joseph Ellison) was the co-founder and chief executive officer (1977–2014) of the software company – Oracle Corporation. He step-down from Oracle’s CEO role after 37 years at the helm in 2014. Oracle corporation grew in part through steady acquisitions of software companies, Oracle got the cloud revenue with $9.3 billion for NetSuite in 2016.
Early life
He was born in New York City, to an unwed Jewish mother. His biological dad was an Italian-American United States Army Air force pilot. After Ellison contracted pneumonia at the age of 9 months, his mom gave him to her aunt’s home for adoption. Larry Ellison never graduated, he dropped out of two consecutive colleges.
Larry Ellison’s adoptive dad many times told him “you are good for nothing”, but Larry Ellison’s “Never Say Die Attitude” made him the world’s 3rd richest person in the US with an estimated net worth of $54 billion.
Hunger for Success
Larry Ellison saw many challenges and rejection, but there is a voice inside everyone that helps to obtain something bigger than your expectations. Larry Ellison was frequently changing his jobs. In 1977, with Bob Miner and Ed Oates (Larry co-workers), he started his 1st business Software Development Laboratories (SDL).
He knows how to take advantage of the booming software industry, rapidly growing and raising challenges for competitors. In 1986, the company hit $55 million.
In the 1990s-time, Larry Ellison’s company started selling databases to all the firms riding the wave, during the Dot-com buddle (massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet).
Marc Benioff, who used to work for Larry Ellison, expressed his desire to start his venture called Salesforce, He invested 2 million dollars in his start-up. Salesforce now generates a revenue of 10 billion dollars and ranks second on the Fortune 500 list.
Becoming a billionaire was never his aim, he told the Smithsonian Institution. “When I started Oracle corporation, what I wanted to do was to create a place where I would enjoy working. That was my first goal. Sure, I wanted to make a living. He said, “I certainly never expected to become rich, certainly not this rich.” He added “I mean; the rich do not even describe this. This is surreal “.
What should we learn from Larry Ellison?
Believed in Your Ideas
Sometimes small ideas work very effectively, sometimes great ideas fail, Larry Ellison believes that Oracle clients no longer need convincing to use their products but just need a better software upgrade.
Be Addicted to Winning
Larry Ellison faced so many challenges in his personal and professional life, He was influenced by Genghis Khan who said that “Everyone should suffer and I should win”.
Degree can’t decide your Future
Education is a powerful weapon that will help you to face the world, but it doesn’t mean if you don’t have this weapon, you will lose your rounds. Larry Ellison, 2 times dropped out of two consecutive universities, even most of the top entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, don’t have a degree but still, they are leaders in the industry.
