Ellison

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who last year purchased his own Hawaiian island, bought a small airline that services the island chain.

Island Air announced the acquisition in a press release today that noted there would be no staff or operational changes as a result of its sale to Ellison. Financial terms of the transaction were not revealed.

"We are excited Mr. Ellison has acquired Island Air. He has the vision and resources to literally take Island Air to new heights," Island Air President Les Murashige said in a statement published by the Associated Press. The airline announced last … Read more

It's said that the rich get richer. And that's certainly true at the moment in the tech world.

Grabbing Bloomberg's No. 2 spot among the world's top billionaries, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has an estimated worth of $63.4 billion as of yesterday. Despite donating a hefty amount of money to charitable causes, Gates' net worth managed to rise 1.1 percent over the past year, making him the richest tech mogul on the list.

Worth $40.7 billion, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison saw a 3.6 percent gain in his fortune last year. The largest … Read more

Larry Ellison has apparently not given up on his dream of owning an NBA team.

The Oracle chief executive is considering a potential bid for Anschutz Entertainment Group, a sports and entertainment empire that holds an ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a Reuters report. Ellison, who recently plunked down a reported $500 million for a Hawaiian island, would likely have to pony up around $10 billion for AEG, which is owned by fellow billionaire Phil Anschutz.

CNET has contacted Oracle for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

In addition to its interest … Read more

Larry Ellison has closed a deal to buy most of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for an undisclosed sum.

The Oracle chief executive has agreed to purchase 98 percent of the 141-square-mile island, Hawaii's sixth-largest by acreage, according to a statement issued today by the Hawaii governor's office. Current landowner Castle & Cooke filed a transfer application with the Public Utilities Commission.

Billionaire David Murdock, who has owned 98 percent of the island since 1985, is selling the land after reportedly losing between $18 million and $25 million each year on the island. The state of Hawaii owns … Read more

What do you do when you've got $500 million to spare? Get an island.

Bill Gates and Larry Ellison are interested in buying the same one, according to rumors floating around Hawaii.

Billionaire David Murdock wants to sell the island of Lanai, Hawaii's sixth-largest by acreage, and potential buyers could include the Microsoft founder and the Oracle CEO, Pacific Business News reported. The island, which may be worth more than $500 million, is expected to be sold soon.

Gates and his wife, Melinda, rented the island (the whole island, mind you) for their marriage in 1994, and Ellison … Read more

Two Silicon Valley executives who worked closely with Steve Jobs over the years shared some of their memories of the late Apple co-founder today, painting a picture of Jobs as a tireless perfectionist who learned from his mistakes.

"Steve would translate good ideas into a finished product unlike anyone in the industry," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said during an onstage discussion at the D10 conference in Palos Verdes, Calif. (See live blog.) Ellison likened Jobs to Henry Ford in the way he changed the industry. "That was Steve, until it was perfect. And then once it was … Read more

Larry Ellison likes racing yachts, which he said are fast but inherently unstable.

"It can be dangerous. Every time I'm on one of these boats there's some kind of injury," he said. When he isn't racing yachts, Ellison has been uncannily stable, co-founding Oracle in 1977 and turning it into a leading enterprise company over the last 35 years.

In a wide-ranging interview today at the D10 conference in Palos Verdes, Calif., the Oracle CEO talked about everything from his idea of the networked computer and the Sun Microsystems acquisition to lawsuits and forthcoming … Read more

Join us later this afternoon for live coverage of Pixar's Ed Catmull and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison taking the stage at the D10 conference to talk about "the lessons of Steve Jobs."

The two are being interviewed separately this afternoon, before coming back on stage to talk about the late Apple co-founder, who frequented the D conference series in years past, and had personal and business relationships with both executives.

Jobs has been the topic of much discussion at the conference, between last night's interview with current Apple CEO Tim Cook and today's talk with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, … Read more

Among the highlights emanating from U.S. District Court in San Francisco courtroom 8 today was Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's response to a question regarding the status of the Java programming language, which his company acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010.

Asked by Google's lead attorney, Robert Van Nest, if the Java language is free, Ellison was slow to respond. Judge William Alsup pushed Ellison to answer with a yes or no. As ZDNet reporter Rachel King observed in the courtroom, Ellison resisted and huffed, "I don't know."

In other words, it's … Read more