Ellison’s debt freight train

Posted on January 31, 2006
Filed Under Uncategorized |

This certainly isn’t a flattering profile of Larry Ellison, but it is a fascinating look at how the guy manages his personal finances.

According to documents unsealed by a judge in the shareholder lawsuit, Ellison habitually pushes his credit limit of more than a billion dollars to its maximum to finance his yachts and homes. And that’s not even counting some $20 million a year he burns through in miscellaneous lifestyle expenses.
Anyone is right to argue that Ellison is certainly a good credit risk, but when you consider that all of these guys count their wealth in terms of their stock holdings and Ellison is famous for rarely selling his stock (some suggest that it’s paranoia reinforced by the “Job’sian coup” at Apple, referring to best friend Steve Jobs being ejected from the company he founded), one has to seriously consider the words of his accountant.
Simon tried to explain to Ellison the seriousness of his debt, saying, “We have a freight train going down a track, hitting a debt wall,” he said in the deposition.

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