Larry Ellison dropped out of college and worked various jobs before co-founding Oracle in 1977. Although Oracle faced financial troubles in the 1990s due to overstating earnings, Ellison helped the company recover by shifting to browser-based applications and acquiring companies. Today, Oracle is a major cloud computing and data analytics company, due to Ellison's determination to drive innovation and win in the face of obstacles.

2. Larry Ellison
From a college dropout to a $54 billion fortune - The
incredible rags-to-riches story.

3. Who is Larry Ellison?
● Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison
● American businessman, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
● Founder and chairman of international mega-giant Oracle
● Listed by Forbes as the seventh wealthiest person in the world, with
a net worth of a $55 billion

4. • Born on August 17, 1944, in New York
• Ellison went to high school in Chicago's middle-class South Side before attending
the city's University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Ellison dropped out in his second year.. He tried college again later at the
University of Chicago, but dropped out again after only one semester.
• With his academic career at an end, a 22-year-old Ellison moved to Berkeley,
California — right near the future Silicon Valley.
Early Life and Education

5. Early Career and Oracle
• Ellison bounced around from job to job. Along the way, he learned his
computer and programming skills.
• The turning point came when Ellison came to work for electronics company
Ampex, which had a contract to build a database for the CIA codenamed
"Oracle."
• In 1977, he founded Software Development Laboratories (SDL) with two
partners(Bob Miner and Ed Oates) and an investment of $2,000.

6. Oracle
• Ellison and company were inspired by IBM computer scientist Edgar F. Codd's
theories for a so-called relational database — a way for computer systems to store
and access information.A revolutionary idea at the time.
• The first version of the Oracle database was version 2 — there was no version 1.
• In 1979, the company renamed itself Relational Software Inc., and in 1982 it
formally became Oracle Systems Corp., after its flagship product.
• Oracle grew rapidly and turned into one of the key drivers of the growing
computer industry. In 1986, Oracle had its IPO, reporting revenue of $55
million.

7. But it was not all sunshine and smooth sailing for
Oracle

8. Turbulent Times for Oracle
• In 1990, Oracle had to lay off 10% of its workforce, because of Oracle's "up-
front" marketing strategy.
• The sales people booked future license sales in the current quarter to
increase their bonuses. This became a problem when the future failed to
materialize.
• Oracle eventually had to restate its earnings twice, and had to settle lawsuits
arising from having overstated its earnings. Ellison would later say that
Oracle had made "an incredible business mistake".

9. Turbulent Times for Oracle
• After adjusting for that huge error, Oracle was said to be close to
bankruptcy. Meanwhile, rivals like Sybase were eating away at
Oracle's market share.
• It took a few years, but Ellison and Oracle managed to right the
course with some new blood.

10. Crisis Averted
• Oracle found the solution to raise from its near bankruptcy in Apps.
• From 1991 to 1997 apps sales grew from $100 million to just under $500
million,but Oracle was still losing big contracts to competitors like SAP.
• Ellison finally “woke up” to the apps issue in 1997 when he began
supervising the business. He launched an entirely new strategy: browser-
based apps.

11. Crisis Averted
• Browser based apps are computer tools and applications which run on a web
browser via the Internet without accessing the operating system of any
individual computer.
• Oracle realized that in an Internet-wired world, apps could give him direct
access to the user and, in tandem with database software, give Oracle control
of the entire computing platform.
• Oracle carried forward with the idea of Browser based Apps.

12. Oracles revitalization
• Oracle pledged to deliver an integrated “suite”of applications that would
require no customization or costly installation. Oracle would deliver it over
the Web and manage it for customers.
• This gave them an edge over their competitors who sold specialized
products.
• Buoyed by demand from dot-coms and exploding Internet traffic, Oracle
grew rapidly.
• Oracle’s success steadily increased throughout the 1990s. In a single quarter
of 2000, Oracle’s net profits increased by 76%.

13. Oracle Today
• Oracle faced another setback with the arrival of MySQL, which was free.
• It was supposed that Oracle’s business would languish over time, as it was
thought that the new innovations would happen on MySQL.
• But a master stroke by Ellison saved the day.
• Oracle bought Sun Microsystems, which had acquired MySQL previously in
2008, leading to high returns for the company.

14. Oracle today
• Continuing with the trend of ignoring a problem until it became major,
Oracle completely ignored the development of the cloud and the Hadoop data
analytics platform.
• Only to realize their importance later.
• Oracle now offers the best cloud services in the industry.
• It also offers a wide range of tools for data analytics.
• Despite several setbacks, Oracle is still moving forward strong and steady.
• It is one of the most influential companies in the industry.

15. Conclusion
• “If you do everything that everyone else does in business,you’re
going to lose. The only way to be really ahead is to be different”
• “I’m addicted to winning. The more you win, the more you want to
win”
-Larry Ellison
• The above quotes show the determination of Larry Ellison.
• It is this determination that has allowed Oracle to get past it’s many hurdles.

16. Conclusion
• Ellison has continuously been there through the ups and downs of Oracle.
• His ability to think in the face of adversity has been one of the most
important factors leading to Oracle’s success.
• And Ellison has made it clear that he is going to play a major role in the
future of the company.
• His unwavering determination, courage and intelligence has brought Oracle
this far, rightfully lending him the title of “The Wisdom behind Oracle”