Event Introduction:

The segment is part of a ceremony by the Bay Area Council Hall of Fame Selection Committee, aiming to honor significant figures in business. The ceremony pays tribute to two individuals who have made substantial contributions to business and exhibited the power of partnership and collaboration. Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, is the primary honoree.

Larry’s Leadership Qualities:

Jeff Henley, Chairman of Oracle, introduces Larry Ellison, focusing on several key traits that have contributed to his success. Firstly, Larry is considered an intelligent strategist and marketer in addition to his mastery of technology. Secondly, he is known for challenging conventional wisdom, exemplified by his early predictions on client-server technology costs and the eventual dominance of networked devices over PCs.

Technical Foresight:

Ellison has often gone against industry trends, such as his current disagreement with the conventional wisdom about data center architecture. He posits that engineered appliances from a single vendor offer both superior performance and lower total cost of ownership compared to the prevailing mixed-supplier model.

Communication and Persistence:

Larry is praised as an excellent communicator capable of simplifying complex technical subjects. He is also lauded for his persistence, as shown by Oracle’s long-term investment in developing a comprehensive cloud-based application suite.

Personality Traits:

Apart from his business acumen, Larry Ellison is noted for his sarcastic sense of humor and his never-give-up determination, the latter illustrated by Oracle Team USA’s comeback victory in the America’s Cup.

Oracle’s Current Status:

The company, under Ellison’s stewardship, has evolved over 35 years to become a global powerhouse. It boasts approximately $40 billion in revenues, 120,000 employees, and a $5 billion annual budget for R&D, suggesting a promising future ahead.

The introduction concludes with a lead-in to a short video, followed by Larry Ellison taking the stage.

Non-Conformity in Business:

Larry Ellison emphasizes the importance of breaking from convention in business. He argues that conforming to established norms limits potential for success, advocating for an unconventional approach as the path to outperforming competitors.

Ellison’s Rise to Prominence:

Starting from a humble background, Ellison has built Oracle Corporation into a global tech behemoth, generating $37 billion annually. Oracle’s success has also significantly impacted the economy of the Bay Area, employing nearly 15,000 people locally and giving back to the community through philanthropy.

Early Career and Oracle’s Origin:

Ellison began his career in various roles, eventually becoming a programmer at Ampex. In 1977, he co-founded Software Development Labs and started working on relational database technology. This led to a significant contract with the CIA and laid the foundation for Oracle Corporation.

Rational Decision-Making:

Ellison is known for a methodical approach to decision-making, combining extensive research and dialogue. While he may appear to take intuitive leaps, his choices are information-driven and rationally derived.

Intense Focus on Product Development:

Oracle is unique in that Ellison, as CEO, takes an active role in product development. This is contrary to most large corporations, where the CEO is generally disconnected from such details.

Oracle Open World and Economic Impact:

Ellison has also endeavored to connect Oracle with its user base through Oracle Open World, an annual conference that benefits the Bay Area economically. This conference attracts around 60,000 attendees, infusing approximately $120 million into the local economy annually.

Expanding Influence: America’s Cup:

Aside from Oracle, Ellison’s influence extends to sports. By bringing the America’s Cup to the Bay Area, he generated substantial economic and publicity benefits for the region.

Continuous Desire to Compete and Win:

Ultimately, what drives Ellison is his love for competition and problem-solving. This ethos not only contributes to Oracle’s success but also significantly benefits the Bay Area, serving as a continuous source of innovation and development.

Legacy and Recognition:

Ellison’s impactful journey culminates in his induction into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame, recognizing him not just as a successful business figure but also as an individual whose ingenuity continues to transform lives and regions.

Steve Jobs’ Irreplaceability:

Larry Ellison begins his speech by addressing the irreplaceable nature of Steve Jobs. Contrary to the saying that “no one is irreplaceable,” Ellison posits that Jobs was an exception. He likens Jobs to Thomas Edison and Pablo Picasso, suggesting that his creative genius has had a daily and ubiquitous influence on modern life.

Multifaceted Genius:

Ellison further elaborates on the multidimensional aspects of Steve Jobs. He describes him as not just an inventor or entrepreneur, but also a philosopher, artist, and leader. His unique combination of skills allowed him to reinvent multiple industries, such as computing, communications, and entertainment.

Personal Relationships:

Beyond his professional achievements, Ellison touches on the less visible but equally significant roles that Jobs played in his life. He was a father, a husband, and Ellison’s best friend. His impact in these roles, according to Ellison, makes him irreplaceable in a personal sense as well.

The Importance of Walks:

The friendship between Ellison and Jobs is described through the metaphor of walks. These walks were not just physical journeys but intellectual and emotional ones as well. As Jobs’ health deteriorated, the walks grew shorter, but their impact remained profound. One walk, in particular, to Castle Rock State Park, stood out in Ellison’s memory, highlighting the depth of their relationship.

Complex Emotional Spectrum:

Ellison concludes by likening Jobs’ impact to the “visible light portion of a spectrum,” implying that his influence extends beyond what is immediately visible or understood. He alludes to the many “less visible roles” that Jobs played, reiterating his irreplaceable value both publicly and privately.

State of Apple in 1995:

Larry Ellison describes the precarious position Apple was in during 1995, a period when Steve Jobs was not with the company. Apple’s decline over a decade had reached a point where its survival was questioned, making it a painful scenario for both Ellison and Jobs to witness.

The Pivotal Hike:

Ellison recounts a specific hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains during which they seriously considered taking control of Apple. Ellison’s proposition was straightforward: to buy Apple and install Jobs as the CEO, a feat that seemed financially possible given Apple’s reduced valuation at the time.

Jobs’ Alternative Plan:

Steve Jobs, however, had a different idea. He wanted to get Apple to acquire his other company, Next Computer. This would enable him to join Apple’s board, and he believed that over time, the board would recognize him as the right person to lead Apple back to prominence.

Motivations Beyond Money:

Ellison highlights a pivotal moment when Jobs, pausing their walk, explained that his intentions were not financially motivated. Jobs wanted to operate on “high moral ground,” emphasizing that he didn’t want to get paid for saving Apple. This indicated his philosophical approach and dedication to the company he co-founded.

Outcome and Legacy:

Ellison concludes by reflecting on the outcome of Jobs’ decision to save Apple his way. The successes that followed — the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad — turned Apple into one of the most valuable companies globally, even though this was never one of Jobs’ explicit goals. Jobs’ motivations, likened to the ancient Greeks, were in the pursuit of “truth and beauty and an impossible perfection.”

Steve Jobs’ Unique Sense of Humor:

Larry Ellison reminisces about his close friendship with Steve Jobs, particularly highlighting Jobs’ peculiar and delightful sense of humor. Ellison details how Jobs would often get lost in his own amusing thoughts during dinner gatherings, eliciting laughter from everyone present even though they had no idea what was amusing him. These moments of shared laughter are among Ellison’s most cherished memories with Jobs.

Shared Moments at Kona Village:

The friendship wasn’t confined to work or intellectual pursuits; it extended to personal holidays. Ellison mentions vacations at Kona Village in Hawaii, where he, Steve Jobs, Jobs’ wife Lorraine, and his own partners would enjoy each other’s company. These occasions were marked by simplicity, epitomized by shared meals and collective laughter for “no reason at all.”

Ellison’s Support for the San Francisco Giants:

Switching focus, Ellison discusses his partnership with the San Francisco Giants, which was instrumental in building a new, privately-funded ballpark for the team. His company’s support was vital for the construction of Pac Bell Park and was acknowledged by Larry Baer, the President and CEO of the Giants.

Community Recognition and Humor:

Ellison concludes by receiving a 2012 World Series Players’ Ring, a symbolic token of his contribution to the San Francisco Giants and the larger community. He humorously claims to have batted “.285 and come in second in the Golden Glove voting for second base that year,” a light-hearted end to a speech that spans both personal and professional landscapes.