LONG.
MARIA: BUT FIRST, ONE OF SILICON
VALLEY'S BIGGEST GIANTS, HE'S
BEEN CALLED THE GODFATHER OF
TECHNOLOGY, THE IRON MAN OF
BUSINESS, ORACLE EXECUTIVE
CHAIRMAN LARRY ELLISON IN IN THE
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.
SO, LARRY, LET ME TURN TO YOU,
YOU'RE A STATESMAN IN THE
INDUSTRY, OBVIOUSLY, YOU'VE BEEN
AROUND A LONG TIME AND HAVE
WATCHED SMALL COMPANIES BECOME
BIG COMPANIES, TRY COMPETE WITH
YOU. -- TRY TO COMPETE WITH YOU.
ASSESS INDUSTRY, WHAT STRIKES
YOU MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE SEEN
OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS?
>> SOMETIMES I LIKEN THE
COMPUTER INDUSTRY TO THE FASHION
INDUSTRY, THAT CERTAIN BRANDS
GET VERY, VERY POPULAR.
IBM, WHEN I FIRST CAME INTO THE
INDUSTRY, WAS THE ULTIMATE
BRAND.
IT WAS NOT A COMPANY AGAINST
WHOM YOU WOULD COMPETE, IT WAS
AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH YOU
WOULD COMPETE.
AMAZON NOW IS KIND OF THE NUMBER
THE ONE BRAND IN INFRASTRUCTURE
CLOUD COMPUTING.
LET ME TELL YOU AN INTERESTING
FACT.
AMAZON DOES NOT USE AWS TO RUN
THEIR BUSINESS.
AMAZON RUNS THEIR ENTIRE
BUSINESS ON TOP OF ORACLE, ON
TOP OF ORACLE DATABASE.
THEY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO MIGRATE
TO AWS.
BECAUSE IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
NOW, I KEEP SAYING THIS, AND
BECAUSE THEY JUST SPENT ANOTHER
$50 MILLION WITH US LAST YEAR
BUYING STILL MORE ORACLE
DATABASE.
I KEEP SAYING THIS, SAYING,
WELL, MAYBE OUR DATABASE IS
BETTER THAN AMAZON'S DATABASES?
WHY ELSE WOULD AMAZON KEEP
BUYING OUR DATABASE?
THEY LAST YEAR BRAVELY SAID
THEY'RE SICK OF THESE COMMENTS
OF MINE, AND THEY'RE GOING TO
MOVE OFF OF ORACLE BY 020.
GUESS WHAT? -- 2020?
THEY JUST MOVED A BUNCH OF THEIR
WAREHOUSES OFF OF ORACLE, AND
GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?
I'LL SEND YOU A COPY OF AMAZON'S
INTERNAL MEMO.
THEY WENT DOWN, IT FAILED, THEY
HAD A HUGE OUT AN.
AND THEY SAID IF THEY'D STAYED
WITH THE ORACLE DATABASE, THIS
WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED.
THE ORACLE DATABASE MANAGES MOST
OF THE WORLD'S DATA TODAY, TEN
YEARS AGO.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
ALL OF WORLD'S IMPORTANT,
VALUABLE DATA IS IN AN ORACLE
DATA A BASE.
AMAZON WON'T USE ITS OWN
DATABASES TO RUN ITS BUSINESS.
SO OUR JOB, SO WHAT HAVE WE DONE
WRONG, OKAY?
SO, OKAY, IF YOU GUYS ARE SO
GREAT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WRONG?
WELL, WE DIDN'T GET OUR DATABASE
TO CLOUD QUICKLY ENOUGH.
SO IF YOU WANTED A CLOUD
DATABASE, YOU HAD TO GO TO
AMAZON FOR A DATABASE, AND THEN
YOU'RE ABLE TO GO TO MICROSOFT
FOR A DATABASE.
IT TOOK US A WHILE FOR US TO
BUILD A SECURE CLOUD.
IT'S REALLY HARD TO BUILD A
SECURE CLOUD.
IT TOOK US A WHILE.
WE THINK WE'RE THERE NOW.
WE HAVE BY FAR AND AWAY THE BEST
DATABASE IN WORLD.
NOTHING'S CLOSE.
WE SHOW A SERIES OF BENCHMARKS
WHERE WE'RE TEN TIMES PASTOR
HAND AMAZON.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE'RE TEN
TIMES CHEAPER TO RUN THE SAME
EXACT THING THAN AMAZON ON OUR
DATABASE.
SO IF IF YOU WANT ALL THAT
SECURITY AND RELIABILITY, YOU
HAVE TO BE WILLING TO SPEND
LESS.
THAT'S WHAT WE'VE SHOWN IN A
SERIES OF BENCHMARKS.
EVEN AMAZON CAN'T MOVE.
MARIA: THAT'S INCREDIBLE, THE
FACT THAT THEY'RE A CUSTOMER,
AND YOU CONTINUE TO POKE THEM,
TO MAKE -- BECAUSE THEY'RE
TRYING TO GET AT YOUR MARKET
SHARE IN ONE AREA, AND YET
THEY'RE ON YOUR DATABASE
PLATFORM.
>> PEOPLE SAY ORACLE HAS NO
CHANCE, AMAZON'S GOING TO
DOMINATE EVERYTHING.
YOU'D THINK ONE OF THE EARLY
CUSTOMERS AT AMAZON WOULD MOVE,
HOW ABOUT AMAZON?
MARIA: HOW TO YOU KEEP THAT
LEADING POSITION?
>> WELL, WE THINK WE HAVE, I
DON'T KNOW, 10-20 YEAR LEAD ON
AMAZON IN DATABASES.
LET ME PROVE IT.
ANOTHER THING, AMAZON USES
ORACLE, NOT AMAZON.
AMAZON'S TRANSPROCESSING DATA
THAT BASE IS CALLED AURORA.
AURORA IS AN OPEN SOURCE
DATABASE.
THEY JUST PICKED UP AND THEY
CLOSE SOURCED ON AMAZON, THEY
DIDN'T WRITE IT.
THEY DIDN'T WRITE ANY OF IT.
THEY MADE IT AVAILABLE ON THEIR
CLOUD.
WELL, SO WHO OWNS AURORA?
WHO DROPS AURORA?
THAT WOULD BE ORACLE.
IT'S CALLED MY SEQUEL.
THAT'S OUR SMALL OPEN SOURCE
DATABASE THAT THEY CLAIM IS
THEIR BIG TRANSACTION PROCESSING
TATA BASE THAT'S GOING TO --
DATABASE THAT'S GOING TO REPLACE
ORACLE.
IT'S JUST PREPOSTEROUS.
YOU KNOW?
AMAZON DIDN'T EVEN DEVELOP THE
AMAZON DATABASE.
IT'S JUST A CHUNK OF OPEN SOURCE
THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
CALLED MY SEQUEL.
MY SEQUEL DOES NOT COMPARE WITH
THE ORACLE DATABASE.
THERE'S A REASON AMAZON USES
ORACLE.
YOU KNOW WHO ELSE USES ORACLE?
IS ANOTHER COMPANY THAT HATES
US, SAP USES ORACLE EVERYWHERE.
SAP TEN YEARS AGO SAID I HATE
ORACLE, I'M GETTING OFF OF
ORACLE, I CAN'T STAND THESE
GUYS, ESPECIALLY THIS GUY THAT
GOES ON TV AND MAKES FUN OF US.
[LAUGHTER]
BECAUSE WE HAVE GREAT NEW
DATABASE CALLED HANNAH.
IT'S AWESOME.
WELL, THEY HAVE ALL OF THESE
CLOUD SERVICES, YOU KNOW?
THEY HAVE SUCCESS FACTORS.
DOES IT RUN ON HAN THAT?
OH, NO, IT RUNS ON ORACLE.
95, 98% OF EVERYTHING SAP DOES
RUNS ON ORACLE.
A DECADE LATER THEY STILL USE
ORACLE, CAN'T GET TO HANNAH.
THE ORACLE DATABASE BEAT IBM IN
THE DATABASE BUSINESS, BEAT
MICROSOFT IN THE DATABASE
BUSINESS.
WE'VE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS FOR
20 YEARS CONSTANTLY MAKING OUR
DATABASE BETTER.
NOW IT'S THE WORLD'S FIRST
AUTONOMOUS SYSTEM.
ALL OF SAP'S LARGE CUSTOMERS,
THE E.U. ACTUALLY DID A STUDY
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE TOP
HUNDRED SAP CUSTOMERS IN EUROPE,
HOW MANY OF THEM RUN THE ORACLE
DATABASE.
ONLY 99.
[LAUGHTER]
ONE ACTUALLY RAN IBM.
SO WE ONLY HAVE 99 OF 100.
ALL OF THEIR CLOUD SERVICES
WHETHER IT'S SUCCESS FACTORS,
ARIBA, ALL OF THESE PEOPLE
THEY'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET OFF
OF ORACLE FOR A DECADE STILL ALL
RUN ORACLE.
ORACLE'S JUST A MUCH BETTER
DATABASE THAN ANYONE ELSE HAS.
SASHA NO DELLA WAS ASKED IF I
COULD HAVE ANY PIECE OF SOFTWARE
IN WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE, AND
HE SAID THE ORACLE DATABASE.
BECAUSE IT'S THE INFORMATION
AGE, AND ALL WORLD'S VALUABLE
INFORMATION IS STORED IN AN
ORACLE DATABASE.
MARIA: CAN YOU TELL ME BACK AND
TELL ME -- TAKE ME BACK AND TELL
ME HOW YOU'VE DONE THIS?
YOU'RE THE GODFATHER OF
TECHNOLOGY.
YOU'RE STILL COMING UP WITH ALL
THESE INFO VEGAS, AND I CAN SEE
HOW PASSIONATE YOU ARE, YOU'RE
BEATING EVERYBODY, AND YOU CAME
FROM SUCH HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.
GREW UP ON SOUTH SIDE OF
CHICAGO, DROPPED OUT OF COLLEGE,
NOW YOU HAVE COLLECTIONS OF
CARS, JETS, PRIVATE HOMES,
OWNING THE ISLAND OF LANAI.
TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT.
>> I HAD ALL THE DISADVANTAGES
NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS, YOU KNOW?
WHEN YOU'RE RAISED ON SOUTH SIDE
OF CHICAGO, YOU PROBABLY WANT TO
MOVE SOMEPLACE NICER.
AND I THINK BE IT DOESN'T KILL
YA, IT MAKES YOU STRONGER.
SO I'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY
AMBITIOUS, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY
CURIOUS.
I, YOU KNOW, MOVED TO SILICON
VALLEY RIGHT AFTER I DROPPED OUT
OF COLLEGE, YOU KNOW, GOT A JOB
AS A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER, I
LEARNED HOW TO PROGRAM WHEN I
WAS IN COLUMN, AND I GOT A JOB
AND BUMMED AROUND AT YOSEMITE
VALLEY TEACHING ROCK CLIMBING
AND LEADING RIVER TRIPS DURING
MY EARLY 20s.
BUT THE WAY I SUPPORTED MYSELF
WAS AS A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER.
AND I GOT INVOLVED WITH MORE AND
MORE INTERESTING AND COMPLICATED
COMPUTER PROJECTS AND DECIDED TO
START MY OWN COMPANY.
MARIA: AND THEN?
IT GREW AND GREW AND GREW, AND
YOU'RE COMPETITIVE.
>> YEAH.
WELL, MY ORIGINAL GOAL WAS TO
BUILD A COMPANY OF 50 PEOPLE,
PEOPLE I ENJOYED GOING TO WORK
WITH EVERY DAY AND PEOPLE THAT I
RESPECTED AND ENJOYED WORKING
WITH EVERY DAY.
IT GOT TO BE A LITTLE BIGGER
THAN THAT.
WE HAVE 150,000 PEOPLE INSIDE
COMPANY NOW.
MARIA: AND YOU'VE GOT 440,000
CUSTOMERS, 145 COUNTRIES.
WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?
>> WELL, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE
BEAT AMAZON IN CLOUD DATABASE.
[LAUGHTER]
MARIA: IT'S FUNNY TO O'HARE YOU
SAY THAT.
VERY SIMPLE.
>> VERY SIMPLE.
JUST LIKE PLAYING BASKETBALL.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE PLAYING
BASKETBALL, YOU WANT TO BEAT THE
WARRIORS.
YOU WANT TO WIN THE
CHAMPIONSHIP.
SO OUR JOB, WE HAVE THE BEST
DATABASE IN THE WORLD, WE'VE GOT