Software mogul Larry Ellison basked in the glow of victory after Oracle Team USA staged one of the greatest sports comebacks take their second consecutive America’s Cup.
The billionaire faced criticism in the days preceding the final face, after he chose to skip his keynote speech at Oracle’s OpenWorld Conference (with over 60,000 people registered for the event) on Tuesday afternoon when it conflicted with a race; instead he chose to watch his team from a speedboat.
Ellison’s Oracle Team USA found a way to win against all odds. The team suffered a major setback in their effort to retain the America’s Cup trophy when an international jury docked them two points and kicked three team members out of the event for adding illegal weight to Oracle boats. Furthermore, the team was down an 8-1 deficit against challenger Emirates Team New Zealand, fighting an uphill battle each step of the way to take the 34th America’s Cup in a winner-take-all 19th race.
Ellison’s sailing team has been a convenient marketing tool for Oracle for years, but the style in which it won this year’s Cup – excelling when the chips were down – now gives him a powerful image to convey to shareholders worried that the No. 3 software company is in danger of losing its lead to younger competitors.
[source: euronews; forbes]
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