Lawrence Ellison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lawrence Ellison - Essay Example He was born in New York City, on August 17, 1944, to an unwed Jewish mother. He was then adopted by his mother's uncle and aunt, who raised him in Chicago. His adopted mother was kind to him, but he has quite a few contradictions with his adopted father. The financial condition of the family was alright, until the Great Depression robbed his adopted father of his job, after which he took up a small job as an auditor. Lawrence Ellison went to Eugene Field Elementary School in Chicago, and then went to Sullivan High School. Even as a child, he showed great aptitude for Science and Math. He attended the University of Illinois and left it at the end of the second year, since his mother had expired then. Later, he went to the University of Chicago, where he learnt computer designing, for just one term. Later, he took up a number of jobs that helped him earn a living. In the 1970s, Ellison took up a job with Ampex Corporation. Here, he worked on a project that basically dealt with creating a database for CIA. It was called Oracle. Eventually, he started a venture on his own, with his colleagues, Robert Miner and Ed Oates, after being inspires by a paper called, 'A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks' by Edgar F. ("Ted") Codd, describing a concept Codd had developed at IBM. It was initially called Software Development Laboratories.Soon enough, they won a contract to build a relational database management system for the CIA, and thus began his career as a software entrepreneur. By completing the project ahead of schedule and using the time to develop the company, Ellison and his partners started their stride into the million dollar mark. Ever since, the company's profits doubled year after year. It soon turned into a billion dollar company, from a million dollar comp any. This was when the company got its current name, Oracle. Oracle also experienced its share of difficulties, in the aftermath of going public in 1986. Employees of Oracle overstated the value of their company. This led to losses the next financial year around. The company was also on the brink of bankruptcy. This was when Ellison decided to step in and disburse managerial powers to professionals and solely concentrated on product design. After this overhaul, the company registered more profits than before. Even in the light of the financial meltdown, Oracle has been able to sustain itself. Lawrence Ellison, for his part, has been one among the world's richest men. In fact, at one point in time, he overtook Microsoft's Bill Gates, to become the World's Richest Man. He leads a very lavish life, with a special regard and passion for yachting and water-sports. ASSETS, PHILANTHROPY AND CONTRIBUTION Lawrence Ellison, in his position as the co-founder and CEO of Oracle, has been currently named as the fourth