Larry Ellison: Winning the database wars

About this episode

The episode explores Larry Ellison's rise from humble beginnings to becoming a billionaire and the founder of Oracle, highlighting his aggressive business tactics and personal life.

Larry Ellison’s business mantra is simple: “It is not sufficient that I succeed — everyone else must fail.” From humble beginnings as an adopted child in Chicago to becoming one of the richest men in history, BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng trace the relentless ascent of one of Silicon Valley’s most combative and controversial figures. After recognising the commercial potential of databases, Larry Ellison founded Oracle in the 1970s and spent the next two decades driving an aggressive sales culture that fuelled meteoric growth — and nearly sank the company in an accounting scandal. But Larry Ellison rebuilt his company into a global enterprise software giant, and in recent years has extended his influence beyond technology into Hollywood. All while amassing fighter jets, yachts, and even a Hawaiian island. Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics, and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune…

People in this episode

Hosts: Simon Jack, Zing Tsjeng

Topics covered

• business
• entrepreneurship
• Silicon Valley
• database technology
• wealth
• philanthropy

Keywords

• Larry Ellison
• Oracle
• database wars
• Silicon Valley
• business ethics
• wealth
• philanthropy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Oracle, BBC World Service

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