Larry Ellison is the founder, president and CEO of Oracle, the second largest software manufacturer in the world. The company is also the largest database software company in the world. In 2001, Forbes magazine ranked 1st in the United States. Ranked fourth on the rich list, 1 in the world, with total assets of US$26 billion.
Growth record
For all IT elites, Ellison is definitely an alternative. He likes to grow a long beard, he likes to wear $10,000 Armani suits, his private life is extremely promiscuous, he always first sets up an imaginary enemy for himself, and then knocks him down, and this time his enemy is The world's first Bill Gates.
He seems to be dissatisfied with the whole world, and his speeches are always so mean and vicious,? Bill Gates? That is a very famous virus! ?Real success is only when everyone else fails! ?The Roman Empire will collapse, why not Microsoft? ?Whenever IBM shows off how fast their mainframes are, they tend to throw their own databases in the trash and use Oracle's databases. ?People who buy Microsoft products are stupid, their products were written by their grandfathers 25 years ago! ?
But he is indeed a genius. Since he founded Oracle in 1977, it has developed into the world's second largest software manufacturer in just 26 years. Therefore, he is a genius and a madman, and he is destined to be controversial.
The miracle of starting a business at the age of 32
Ellison was born in New York in 1944, but was abandoned by his parents as soon as he was born. A relative in Chicago adopted him. In Sen's memory, he only met his mother once and knew that she was Jewish, while his father's identity is still a mystery.
Ellison showed talent in mathematics since he was a child. He entered the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois, and later Northwestern University, but he left before graduating. He was very withdrawn at school and liked to keep to himself. His grades were not very good, and his only interest was in computers.
Ellison, who dropped out of college, worked in several unknown computer companies in California. It was during this period that Ellison's mathematical talents were revealed. He not only worked well in technology, but also had a deep understanding of technology. He has an instinctive grasp of the development trends and is simply a very visionary technical genius.
However, Ellison became less and less interested in the technical work he was familiar with. Once, he told his friends at a party about his next idea: "I can no longer do technology. I will never be successful with it. I want to be the boss and start my own company." ?
So he began to change jobs frequently, looking for an opportunity that would allow him to develop. However, the situation at home did not allow this. In addition, he spent money faster than he made money, and the family began to accumulate debt. . In 1974, his unbearable wife Queenie broke up with him. At that time, Ellison begged his wife: "I will become a millionaire if you stay with me." ?But Queenie didn't believe it, but until Ellison really became a super rich person, she didn't regret her original choice.
In 1977, an opportunity came. Ellison, who worked at Precision Instrument Company, learned that the company had a large software compilation job to be outsourced, with a target price of US$700,000. He was determined to seize this opportunity and make a career. He and two colleagues formally established Software Development Laboratory Co., Ltd. (SDL) in June. They used their family house as a mortgage and finally won the bid with the lowest price of US$400,000.
The US$400,000 funding provided SDL with rare start-up capital. The Precision Instrument Company's project is progressing smoothly, but Ellison is thinking about the company's next step: If he continues to write contracts and procedures one after another, it will not only be troublesome but also laborious. Is it possible to write just one program once and for all? This will save more time and energy, and at the same time win more customers in the market. In 1970, the entire software industry in the United States had sales of only $70 million. Most people have not realized the importance of computer software, but Ellison has already noticed the possibility of future development. He seems to see a glorious future for the software industry.
An old name, a new miracle
In 1976, IBM researchers published a landmark paper "R System: Database Relational Theory", which introduced the relational database theory and query language SQL. Ellison read the article very carefully and was shocked by its content. This was the first time anyone had used a comprehensive and consistent approach to managing data information. Inspired by this, Ellison and his colleagues began to write a relational database. Although IBM also invested heavily in programming this product, the small company of these four people created a miracle. They were the first in the market. The company that launched SQL relational database products! Ellison helped create an industry with great promise: software.
In 1982, Ellison changed the company's name to "Oracle". Because Ellison had worked for the CIA before, and Oracle was a project he had worked on. At the same time, he believed that Oracle literally means the record of data and information, and the company has created a leading cross-enterprise information system. storage system.
In fact, early Oracle versions did not work properly, the program was full of errors, and users had many complaints, but Ellison paid more attention to the market than to technology. He believed that capturing a large market share early was The most important thing is, when the market is well established, do you know how much it will cost Pepsi to capture 1% of Coca-Cola's market? It's very, very expensive.
The great thing about Ellison is that he is also a master salesman. He not only promotes the company's products, but also more intelligently promotes the concept of relational databases everywhere. The standard title of his speeches that he often gives is "Relational Data Technology" Defects?, describe the problems that occur in relational databases, and then introduce how Oracle solves them. Unlike other companies that only talk about the functions of the product, Ellison also demonstrated the technology on the spot, inputting a relationship query on the computer, and the results came out quickly. Although the actual effect may not be achieved, at least it made people's impression Profound, so Ellison's success relies not only on technology, but more on marketing.
In 1983, Oracle provided the VAX schema database, which was the first portable database written entirely in C language. In 1984, Oracle provided the first read-consistent database, and sales that year reached $12.7 million. In 1985, Oracle provided a parallel server database.
For a period of time in the 1980s, Oracle launched a new version almost every day. By 1989, the database alone had launched 6 versions. In fact, the functionality of Oracle's software is not yet complete, but Ellison's marketing strategy is superior. He always focuses on promoting the three major features of his products: portability, connectivity and compatibility. . These characteristics have indeed played a very good role in marketing. As one Silicon Valley professional said: Oracle was born at the right time. Ellison put the market first and everything else came second. Companies with average technology and first-class market capabilities always beat companies with first-class technology. and companies with only ordinary market capabilities. ?
Ellison also often encourages sales staff, but also tries to make internal personnel compete fiercely. He said: ?For any business, there may be 5 competitors, 3 of which may be Oracle. internal. The former vice president of sales at Oracle once said: "Working for Ellison is like riding a tiger. No matter how dangerous and difficult the journey is, you must stick to the tiger's back. If you fall off, the tiger will eat you." To him, there were only two kinds of people: friends and enemies. ?
By 1989, his Oracle had become the world's second largest independent software company after Microsoft. Although Oracle represents the oldest written record, its development is the latest and fastest.
The public listing of Oracle stock in 1986 brought Ellison a net worth of US$93 million. But the very next day, Microsoft also went public, and Bill Gates' shares were worth more than $300 million. While Microsoft shocked the world, Ellison also found the most powerful opponent in his life.
The battle between dragon and tiger
After nearly 15 years, Microsoft and Oracle began a long battle. In fact, the two of them developed in completely different directions. Microsoft focuses on the development of PC software; Oracle focuses on database and network application software. But for Ellison, Microsoft, the "PC" Pope, means a monopoly, and he wants to break this monopoly. As he later said: "Microsoft's monopoly on desktop systems is already the biggest business mistake. Now it wants to monopolize the Internet. I think this is a bigger mistake? I am on the side of all mankind, so it is not that I am at war with Gates, but I am at war with Gates on behalf of all mankind. ?
In the mid-1990s, the emergence and application of the Internet made Oracle's business flourish. Ellison transferred all Oracle's sales to the Internet. E-commerce has become very popular and attracted many large companies. They are preparing to use Oracle's data software to sell products and provide services through the global network.
In 1998, the antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. High Court against Microsoft brought a turning point in the contest between the two. On April 28, 2001, reports claimed that the U.S. Department of Justice had proposed a detailed plan to break up Microsoft. For Gates, this was really a Black Friday. At the closing price of the U.S. stock market that day, the price of Microsoft stock fell to The stock price of Oracle stock rose to US$69.75, so Bill Gates held more than 740 million Microsoft shares, with a total value of US$51.7 billion; while Ellison's Oracle stock rose to US$79.94 per share, and he He holds more than 660 million shares of the company, with a total value of US$53 billion. Therefore, on this day, the title of No. 1 in the world fell to Ellison for the first time.
However, this was only a short-lived glory. The famous "Garbagegate" incident broke out before, which was a bad start and caused Oracle's stock to begin to decline. Because Ellison, a technical person who once worked in the CIA, in order to defeat Microsoft, he paid a lot of money to hire detectives to search for Microsoft's garbage. Ellison unabashedly admitted that he believed he was doing this to safeguard the interests of the broader public. Then, on June 30, 2001, Raymond Lane, the number two person in Oracle, suddenly resigned, which caused a lot of discussion on Wall Street, and investors sold their Oracle stocks. The price of Oracle's stock fell sharply by 14% in just two trading days. Some people think that Ryan resigned because he could not stand Ellison's domineering behavior.
This 50-year-old man will always be incomprehensible to others. We don’t know what he will do next, but what is certain is that the battle between Ellison and Bill Gates will continue. As it goes on, he brings more topics to people.
Silicon Valley Madman
When the battle between Microsoft and Oracle was in full swing, Ellison's colorful and unpredictable lifestyle also aroused people's interest. About him There are so many rumors that it is almost impossible to tell the truth from the false.
Compared with Bill Gates, Ellison is simply a bad boy and a hopeless madman. Born in poverty, he is very proud of his ability to reach the status of the world's richest man, so he is particularly arrogant. He has never shied away from publicly attacking giants such as Microsoft and IBM, and even emphasized that he is the world's number one. His arrogant momentum has made many No one can stand it.
Once, he went to Taiwan for an inspection. The Taiwanese company specially arranged for him to meet with Shi Zhenrong, chairman of Hong123456 Group, who was about to become a customer. But just as the scheduled time was about to come, Ellison suddenly said, I was enjoying watching the American professional football game, and when I wanted to cancel the appointment, my subordinates had no choice but to find excuses to get rid of it, and there were many such things.
His domineering demeanor puts a lot of pressure on his subordinates. Colleagues are always wary of speaking with Ellison because his behavior is always unpredictable and unpredictable. Although Oracle's The salary is high, but the pressure is huge. A biography about Ellison even mentioned that Harvey, a product R&D director, became unstable due to the pressure and was demoted by Ellison and then fired. In the end, the director killed himself The son committed suicide with a gun.
And this is the "Oracle" culture advocated by Ellison, a mechanism that combines "pressure and incentives", a policy of "carrot and stick". He often quoted Genghis Khan's famous saying: "True success is only when everyone else fails," even if the means are unscrupulous.
In terms of private life, Ellison is even more jaw-dropping. He likes to wear Armani, his suits cost more than $10,000 each, and he has a beard. He has been married three times and has constant scandals. Hollywood actresses, supermodels, and Oracle employees are all his targets.
He owned a private jet of his own. He ignored the 11 pm rule not to land the plane and often disturbed his neighbors. For this reason, Ellison went to court with the government. He damaged several Ferrari sports cars by himself, and even passed by a house in San Francisco at two o'clock in the morning. Because he liked the house, he woke up the owner, took out the four million US dollars in the suitcase and bought the house, and immediately took his girlfriend into the house to rest. .
He once wanted to spend 20 million US dollars to buy a Russian MiG fighter jet, which made the U.S. Customs at a loss; he drove an Italian-made fighter jet to engage in simulated air combat with others over the Pacific; he owned a dismantled weapon Made in Italy? Marchetti S. Type 211 fighter. Not to mention the fact that he broke his nose while playing football in college and sprained his neck while surfing in Hawaii.
When others asked him why he was so successful and still continued to fight against Microsoft, he said: Because the race he is participating in is more exciting and larger than the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Make people excited. The competition of the Internet is more exciting than anything I have ever done. ?He is like Genghis Khan in the software industry, building Oracle's glorious empire inch by inch, and he must be the best. What he brings to people is always incredible controversy and miracles!
Secrets of Success
Have the firm confidence that “I must be the boss”.
Use whatever means necessary to compete.