Haute 100 Update San Francisco: Larry Ellison

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—MiamiNew YorkLos Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Mark Hurd has a friend, tennis partner, and now boss in Larry Ellison, who welcomed the former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO as Oracle president and board member as the company counters its combined hardware and software offerings against IBM.

Larry Ellison

Category: Billionaires
Company: Oracle
Industry: Software

What Made Him Haute: We can sum up his haute factor in one word: Oracle. The billionaire entrepreneur is CEO of the software company and counts the likes of Steve Jobs as a weekend pal. Another way to impart the magnitude of Ellison’s hauteness: he ranked No. 4 on Forbes‘ list of world billionaires in 2009 with an estimated net worth of $22.5 billion. He is also an avid yachting enthusiast and owner of a 453-foot superyacht called the Rising Sun as well as a 90-foot trimaran. His BMW Oracle Racing team, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, brought the America’s Cup back to the states in February 2010.

What Makes Him Haute Now: Speculation circulating Silicon Valley regarding Mark Hurd is quelled after an announcement made late Monday night places the former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO into Larry Ellison’s hands at Oracle Corp. Hurd will report directly to the Oracle CEO as president, replacing outgoing president Chuck Phillips, and board member. “Mark did a brilliant job at HP and I expect he’ll do even better at Oracle,” Ellison said. “There is no executive in the IT world with more relevant experience than Mark. Oracle’s future is engineering complete and integrated hardware and software systems for the enterprise.” Ellison has acquired more than 60 companies in the past six years, making Oracle the world’s second-biggest software company. Oracle shares rallied after Tuesday morning’s opening bell, adding more than $7.8 billion to the company’s market value. According to a Bloomberg survey, analysts project Oracle sales to reach more than $34 billion in the fiscal year.