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The Oracle of Oracle: The Story of Volatile

The Oracle of Oracle: The Story of Volatile CEO Larry Ellison and the Strategies Behind His Company's Phenomenal Success

Florence M. Stone
2002
T3 226 pages · about 3h 46m to read Open Librarygoodreads

Slight management-lessons treatment; useful only for the Oracle chronology.

Summary

The reference has not verified this book in detail; the summary states only what the title, author and subject establish.

Florence Stone wrote this account of Larry Ellison and Oracle for a business readership, covering the company from its founding in 1977 through the period around 2000.

The material covers Oracle's origins in relational database technology derived from IBM research that IBM did not commercialise, the aggressive sales culture that drove growth, the accounting crisis of 1990 when revenue recognition practices produced a restatement and a near-collapse, the recovery under Ray Lane, the competition with Microsoft, SAP and IBM, the internet repositioning, and Ellison's personal conduct and public statements.

The reference has not verified this book in detail. It is a business-press treatment based on published sources rather than on original access, and it predates Oracle's acquisition strategy under which it bought PeopleSoft, Siebel, BEA, Sun and dozens of other companies, which is the period that defined the modern firm. Readers wanting a fuller account should consider Mike Wilson's The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison or Matthew Symonds's authorised Softwar.

Key takeaways 6

  1. Oracle commercialised relational database technology developed in IBM research that IBM itself did not bring to market quickly.
  2. An aggressive sales culture drove growth and produced the revenue recognition problems that caused the 1990 restatement.
  3. The 1990 crisis nearly destroyed the company and forced the professionalisation of its finance and operations functions.
  4. Ellison's public conduct and rivalries were a deliberate part of the company's positioning rather than incidental to it.
  5. The book predates Oracle's acquisition strategy, which is what defined the company that exists now.
  6. The reference has not verified this book's contents in detail and better-sourced accounts exist.

Who should read it

Readers interested in Oracle's early history, with the caveat that this entry is not verified in detail and other accounts are better sourced.

Similar books 6

Chosen by shared topics, the entries that hold them, and the people who recommended both.

Everyone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished TruEveryone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished Truth About Oracle and Larry Ellison
T3 Everyone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished Truth About Oracle and Larry Ellison
Karen Southwick · 2003
Open LibraryGoodreads

Hostile counterweight to Symonds's authorised Softwar, published the same year.

Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry EllisSoftwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle
T3 Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle
Matthew Symonds · 2003
Open LibraryGoodreads

Authorised; Ellison's rebuttals run in footnotes throughout.

Recommended by: Andrew Wilkinson, Aaron Levie

The Difference Between God and Larry EllisonThe Difference Between God and Larry Ellison
T3 The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison
Mike Wilson · 1997
Open LibraryGoodreads

Unauthorised; Ellison tried to block it.

Recommended by: Mohnish Pabrai

The Billionaire and the MechanicThe Billionaire and the Mechanic
T3 The Billionaire and the Mechanic
Julian Guthrie · 2013
Open LibraryGoodreads

His America's Cup campaign; the only book covering the later Ellison.

Recommended by: Andrew Wilkinson

Alibaba's WorldAlibaba's World
T3 Alibaba's World
Porter Erisman · 2015
Open LibraryGoodreads

Insider account: an early Western executive on the eBay fight.

Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma BuiltAlibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built
T2 Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built
Duncan Clark · 2016
Open LibraryGoodreads

Alibaba from Jack Ma's Hangzhou apartment to its 2014 New York listing.

Recommended by: Patrick Collison

Where it sits in the reference 2

Oracle
Companies
Larry Ellison
Biographies

Topics

Company HistoriesBiography and MemoirFounders and Entrepreneurs