Early Life
Lawrence “Larry” Joseph Ellison was born on August 17, 1944. Larry Ellison is is an American programmer, adventurer, businessman, competitive yacht racer,internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The chief executive officer of the software company Oracle Corporation from 1977 to present, Ellison has accumulated a fortune of $56.2 billion, making him the fifth wealthiest man in the world. As if becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world wasn't difficult enough, the conditions from which Ellison started make his accomplishment all the more astonishing. Larry Ellison’s early life can be described as having been impossibly difficult. He was born in New York to an unmarried Jewish mother. As an infant, after contracting pneumonia …show more content…
Although rebellious, however, Ellison displayed an affinity for math and the sciences, even being honored as the science student of the year when he attended the University of Illinois. Although an excellent student however, Larry Ellison dropped out of school during the final exams of his second year after his adoptive mother died. After recovering from the shock, he enrolled at the University of Chicago, but again dropped out after the first semester. Although Ellison continuously dropped out of college, he did gain his basic computer programming skills during his short attendance of college. Subsequent to his withdrawal from the University of Chicago, he moved to Berkeley, California in 1966 at age 22. As quoted in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, “Specialized knowledge is among the most plentiful, and the cheapest forms of service which may be had! If you doubt this, consult the payroll of any university” (80). Although this statement might seem contradictory when looking at the case of the repeat college dropout Larry Ellison, it isn’t. Now Larry Ellison did drop out of college. However, it must be realized that upon his brief return to University of Chicago, he managed to learn the basics of computer programming, which ended up being his most valuable source of service. In this, we can truly see how valuable specialized knowledge is and how beneficial colleges can be in attaining that specialized
Lawrence “Larry” Joseph Ellison was born on August 17, 1944. Larry Ellison is is an American programmer, adventurer, businessman, competitive yacht racer,internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The chief executive officer of the software company Oracle Corporation from 1977 to present, Ellison has accumulated a fortune of $56.2 billion, making him the fifth wealthiest man in the world. As if becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world wasn't difficult enough, the conditions from which Ellison started make his accomplishment all the more astonishing. Larry Ellison’s early life can be described as having been impossibly difficult. He was born in New York to an unmarried Jewish mother. As an infant, after contracting pneumonia …show more content…
Although rebellious, however, Ellison displayed an affinity for math and the sciences, even being honored as the science student of the year when he attended the University of Illinois. Although an excellent student however, Larry Ellison dropped out of school during the final exams of his second year after his adoptive mother died. After recovering from the shock, he enrolled at the University of Chicago, but again dropped out after the first semester. Although Ellison continuously dropped out of college, he did gain his basic computer programming skills during his short attendance of college. Subsequent to his withdrawal from the University of Chicago, he moved to Berkeley, California in 1966 at age 22. As quoted in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, “Specialized knowledge is among the most plentiful, and the cheapest forms of service which may be had! If you doubt this, consult the payroll of any university” (80). Although this statement might seem contradictory when looking at the case of the repeat college dropout Larry Ellison, it isn’t. Now Larry Ellison did drop out of college. However, it must be realized that upon his brief return to University of Chicago, he managed to learn the basics of computer programming, which ended up being his most valuable source of service. In this, we can truly see how valuable specialized knowledge is and how beneficial colleges can be in attaining that specialized