Is Larry Ellison the coolest guy on earth?

The short answer is yes. I’m not saying he’s the nicest guy on earth. Having worked for Oracle myself, I will concede that few who’ve met him will lay this claim. I’m not even saying he’s the smartest guy on earth, although the smartest guy I ever worked for (George Kadifa, now heading up HP’s software business) was my boss at Oracle.

I also wouldn’t tag him as a great supply chain thinker, but he does seem to have fixed a few things at Sun Microsystems. Cool, however, he most certainly is.

Four cool things about Larry Ellison:

1. The America’s Cup – as I write this in a hotel in Hong Kong, I am watching an Australian TV report on the breathtaking come-from-behind victory of Larry’s extremely well-funded sailboat. Not only is this unbelievably difficult from a technical perspective, it is also one of the oldest and grandest of world sporting events and a big national pride thing. The talking heads don’t refer to Team USA, however, but Team Oracle. As vanity branding goes, this is hard to top and Larry deserves about $100 million worth of the credit.
2. The dojo – Among many other cool possessions, Larry has a $110 million home in Woodside, California. It is built in a Japanese feudal style in deference to his enthusiasm for Zen. I have been in his offices (the outer foyer at least) at Oracle’s headquarters and they share some of the same feel. For anyone who has seen and enjoyed Robert Downey Jr in the Iron Man movies (in the second of which Larry makes a cameo appearance), Larry’s digs are a step up. Oh, and he also owns a Hawaiian island. Very cool.
3. He looks like he can kick my butt – Larry was born during World War II. He is currently 69 years old. I remember meeting him in person in Redwood Shores when I was a relatively strapping 33 year old and thinking I’d hate to get into a fist fight with this guy. I have no idea what he does to stay fit, but it sure seems to be working. In terms of raw coolness this puts him one up on someone like Warren Buffett, who for all his wisdom doesn’t quite inspire the hybrid fear/envy one feels for the toughest kid in school. Point, Larry.
4. The money – Not only is Larry’s net worth huge (around $40 billion), it is also well deserved. Oracle stock is up about 6,700% since January 1990, which compares well with Microsoft (up around 6,800%), IBM (up 1,000%) and SAP (up about 60% since late 1998). In contrast to some of the hedge fund billionaires, I’d venture to say that Oracle’s contribution to technology – and therefore productivity – more than justifies Larry’s riches. Rich is cool. Having truly earned it is even cooler.

What does this have to do with supply chain?

Not much. And everything I’m saying here is at least a little bit tongue-in-cheek. But Larry’s coolness does say something about action, and that offers lessons for anyone trying to accomplish big things. Many of you are fighting a never-ending battle against rising complexity, ever more demanding customers and tightly strung supply networks. Winning the battle is big.

Larry Ellison’s genius, as I have seen it over the years, is not only that he aims high but that he pulls the trigger. It doesn’t always work out and he learns from failure as well as success. Supply chain leaders don’t really need to be cool, but they do need to be bold. We’re in it to win it and that won’t happen without a bias for action.

Please contact me directly with any comments, questions or suggestions. I welcome your feedback.

Kevin O’Marah
Chief Content Officer
SCM World