Is Microsoft relevant?
Ellison asks if Microsoft matters. Photo: Oracle
Oracle's Ellison gives the tech world a topic. Discuss among yourselves.
Does Microsoft matter? That's the question the noted Microsoft (MSFT) hater and Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison found himself answering at a Silicon Valley event Monday night. The short answer, as Jon Fortt reported here, was yes.
The longer version of his answer on the one hand shows Ellison as the old zen master that he is, making a backhanded and self-serving swipe sound like an innocuous observation. At the same time Ellison raises a fascinating point that's worth exploring further.
First consider his comments in their entirety when asked about the relevance thing by former Sun (JAVA) president and Motorola (MOT) CEO Ed Zander.
Silicon Valley's most underrated CEO
Strong first quarter earnings underscore the prowess of Oracle's Ellison.
Ellison is as engaged as he needs to be. Photo: Oracle
I spent most of the summer reporting and writing a feature story about Safra Catz, the enigmatic co-president of Oracle (ORCL). I talked to oodles of people about Catz's ambitions, her value to the company, the likelihood of her becoming CEO, and her relationship with Charles Phillips, Oracle's other co-president.
All this is in the article, published in the current issue of Fortune. The conclusion is that Catz is a complicated, competent, intelligent pile-driver of an executive who makes Oracle hum.
Left explicitly unsaid in the quest to find out as much as possible about Safra Catz is just how successful her boss, Larry Ellison, has been as CEO of Oracle. This was my single greatest takeaway from my reporting.
There was a period, years ago, when Ellison became disengaged from actively running the company. Because his extracurricular activities get so much attention — the America's Cup battles, the yachts, the homes, the marriages, and so on — the world that watches Oracle from afar doesn't quite get that Ellison's era of disengagement ended a long time ago. More
