7. Larry Ellison
- Age: 77
- Residence: Lanai, Hawaii
- Co-founder, CTO, and Chair: Oracle (ORCL)
- Net Worth: $93 billion
- Oracle Ownership Stake: 35.4% ($74.3 billion)
- Other Assets: Tesla equity ($11.1 billion public assets) and $16.6 billion in cash
Larry Ellison traveled to California and worked as a computer programmer for several businesses throughout the years after leaving the University of Chicago in 1966. First, in 1973, he worked for Ampex, a maker of electronics, when he first met his future business partners Ed Oates and Bob Miner. Ellison joined Precision Instruments three years later and was appointed vice president of research and development.
Together with Oates and Miner, Ellison established Software Development Laboratories (SDL) in 1977. Two years later, Oracle, the first commercial relational database application to make use of Structured Query Language, was published. Because of the database program’s success, SDL changed its name to Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982. Ellison further joined Tesla’s board in December 2018.
The Oracle Exadata computing platform, along with other software like Java and Linux, is offered by Oracle, the second-largest software provider, which also offers a wide range of cloud computing applications. The company has also expanded through the purchase of a number of significant firms, including corporate infrastructure software supplier BEA Systems in 2008, customer relationship management applications provider Siebel in 2006, and hardware and software developer Sun Microsystems in 2009.
Over the past ten years, Ellison has invested millions in luxury real estate, mostly in California. For $300 million, Ellison perhaps made his most stunning purchase: the practically whole Hawaiian island of Lanai. He later developed a hydroponic farm and opulent resort there. Over the years, he has also contributed millions of dollars to philanthropic organizations, mostly supporting medical research. Ellison most recently donated $200 million to the University of Southern California in 2016 to build a new cancer research facility.
8. Larry Page
- Age: 48
- Residence: Palo Alto, California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $91.5 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($115 billion total)
- Other Assets: $13.8 billion in cash
Like numerous other software millionaires on this list, Larry Page’s claim to fame began in a dormitory during his time in college. Page and his buddy Sergey Brin came up with the concept of enhancing data extraction capabilities when surfing the Internet in 1995 while both were students at Stanford University. Due to its capability to examine “backing connections,” the team created a novel sort of search engine technology they called “Backrub.” From there, Page and Brin founded Google in 1998. Page led the business as CEO until his resignation in 2001.
With more than 70% of all online searches conducted globally going via Google, it’s one of the biggest Internet search engines in the world. The largest platform for user-submitted videos, YouTube, was acquired by Google (the firm) in 2006 as part of its expansion. Then, in 2008, the first smartphone running the Android operating system was made available. Android Inc. had initially created the platform before Google bought the business in 2005. Today, Alphabet, a holding corporation for which Page served as CEO from 2015 to 2019, owns Google.
A business that explores space and mines asteroids, Planetary Resources, also counts Page among its initial investors. The business, which was founded in 2009, was bought by blockchain developer ConsenSys in 2018 due to finance issues. Having invested in both Kitty Hawk and Opener, he has also demonstrated an interest in “flying vehicle” businesses.
