# Larry Ellison

Co-founder, CTO, and Executive Chairman, Oracle. TIME100 AI 2026, Leaders. A college dropout whose early project was a CIA database code-named Oracle, he put $1,200 of his own money into the company that became Oracle in 1977. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))

- Born: 1944-08-17, New York City, New York, United States ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- Education: attended, no degree, University of Chicago; attended, no degree, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison), [forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Career: Oracle (Co-founder, CEO, now Executive Chairman and CTO, 1977 to now); Ampex (Programmer) ([oracle.com](https://www.oracle.com/corporate/executives/larry-ellison/), [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/larry-ellison/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/larry-ellison

- Never finished college and started out building databases for the CIA. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Put up $1,200 of the $2,000 that he and two partners invested in Software Development Laboratories, the 1977 startup that became Oracle. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Ellison))
- Ran Oracle as CEO for 37 years before handing over the job in 2014; he still serves as its chief technology officer. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Bought nearly all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million in 2012, and owns about 98% of its land. ([forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/))
- Under Oracle's Stargate deal, OpenAI is set to pay Oracle more than $82 million a day starting in fiscal 2028. ([cloudwars.com](https://cloudwars.com/ai/larry-ellison-and-oracle-beat-microsoft-for-largest-tech-contract-ever-100-billion-openai-stargate-deal/))
- Has argued that the Stargate data centres could lead to AI-designed mRNA vaccines against cancer. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_LLC))