The Oracle of Oracle: The Story of Volatile CEO Larry Ellison and the Strategies Behind His Company's Phenomenal Success
Author: Florence M. Stone
List Price: $24.95
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ISBN: 0814406394
Publisher: AMACOM (15 January, 2002)
Sales Rank: 180,840
Average Customer Rating: 2.8 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Fascinating Insight into an Enigmatic Man
I really enjoyed this book. It's a business book that's actually fun to read. Larry Ellison is almost a mythic character in the high tech business world. Everyone is familiar with his company, his strataspheric success, and his fierce competition with that other successful mega-maniac Bill Gates, but the man himself remains a mystery, like Oz behind the screen. This book does a good job of taking us behind that screen to give us insight into the man's psyche.Stone's book made me respect Ellison for what he is -- an incredibly smart businessman with the talent and drive to transform his vision and knowledge into an amazingly successful company. While I agree with Stone that I wouldn't want to work for him, I'd probably like to BE him!
Love him or hate him, Ellison can teach us a few things about business and success.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Unsophisticated and Misguided
This book was a huge disappointment. The author does not appear to have any previous background on this dynamic industry. This book is not even suitable for a primer as much of Ms. Stone's analysis is not accurate. Having worked for the company, I can attest to the fact that its history is not as simple as portrayed in the book. Stone seems bent on proving that Ellison - despite his rock star ego - is the epitome of a true leader.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Good Book, But What Does the Future Hold?
I was a big fan of Ellison's swashbuckling style, iconoclasm, functioning as a much needed and cash rich arch enemy to The Borg from the North, long history of success, but things just don't seem to be the same without Ray Lane kind of functioning as Ellison's superego. The Oracle of Oracle had experienced a great run up until Lane's departure, and companies don't flourish on the cult of a personality alone. I dumped my Oracle stock a while back, but hope Ellison's seeming spiral into ill advised hubris isn't completely intractable. The story of Oracle and Ellison is more than compelling, and only time will tell whether Ellison's risks in Lane's absence will prove fruitful or fatal.
A final note: Mergers and acquisitions are often great for investment bankers and lawyers, but not necessarily great for shareholders and customers. The bigger the merger and/or acquisition, the bigger the potential problems as well. Seems that Oracle is biting off more than it can chew with PeopleSoft.
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