Tag: IFTTT

• Susan Johnson, 62, said she went for a hospital appointment only to be told she was dead. 
• Hospital records said she'd died four months earlier. 
• Johnson still doesn't know how or why the mistake, now corrected, happened. 

A woman reportedly learned she had been registered as dead when she went for a hospital appointment.

Susan Johnson, 62, went into Bridlington Hospital in Yorkshire, England, for a scan in March 2023. But when she arrived, staff told her that records showed she had been dead for four months, the BBC reported.

"I gave them my letter, and their first words were, 'Ooh, you're dead.' I said, 'pardon?' I was in shock," said Johnson.

The staff entered some details onto the computer so she could still receive the scan, but the experience left her "shaking like a leaf," Johnson told the BBC.

She contacted her primary-care doctors, Scarborough Medical Group, who told the BBC the mistake had been fixed.

However, when Johnson called the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the UK government department responsible for welfare payments, the call handler told her, "On the computer, you're dead," she recalled.

NHS England told Business Insider it was "aware of an issue involving a civil death registration being incorrectly recorded against a patient's medical record."

In a statement, it said: "This was removed within 24 hours of it being reported to us in March 2023 and the patient was re-registered by their GP. We would encourage the patient to contact us directly so we can explain further."

But NHS England would not have notified another government department, such as the DWP, of a death.

Scarborough Medical Group had not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider when this article went live.

Johnson still does not know how she came to be registered as dead.

"I need to find out why it happened, how and by whom, and that person, whoever has pressed a button, shouldn't be working wherever they are," she told the BBC.

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• The US has supplied long-range ATACMS to Ukraine, a powerful weapon that can hit high-value targets.
• Ukraine has used the weapons to strike Russia's prized S-400 air defense launchers in Crimea.
• One analyst said they have the potential to render Crimea "militarily worthless."

Long-range ATACMS provided by the US to Ukraine have the potential to make Crimea "militarily worthless" to Russia, according to one military analyst.

Last week, The New York Times reported that the US had secretly shipped about 100 Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, to Ukraine, which has reportedly already put them to use.

The US has previously sent ATACMS with a shorter range, which aided Ukraine's fight last fall. But the versions sent recently can travel about 190 miles — which puts higher-value targets in Ukraine's crosshairs.

This includes Crimea, occupied by Russia in 2014 and crucial to its military strategy in Ukraine.

Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise on Ukraine, told Radio Free Europe that "the delivery of ATACMS is a big breakthrough."

He said the weapons "could basically make Crimea militarily worthless."

Crimea has been heavily fortified since President Vladimir Putin's forces occupied it, and it serves his military by both land and sea. It's home to the advanced port of Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

It also serves as a crucial logistics hub and military supply route to occupied southern Ukraine, and has been the launchpad for a series of devastating Russian missile and drone attacks.

Ukraine has landed many blows on Crimea before — vastly weakening Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the port of Sevastopol, and periodically targeting the strategic Kerch Bridge that connects the peninsula to Russia.

These have been variously conducted by weapons including air and naval drones, and likely the UK- and France-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles.

But ATACMS have a key advantage over Storm Shadows, Radio Free Europe reported, in that they travel much faster.

In mid-April, Ukraine claimed to have struck the Dzhankoi military base, in northern Crimea, including a prized S-400 air defense launcher, without elaborating on the weapon used. A senior US official later told the Times that it was among Ukraine's ATACMS targets.

Last month, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Congress to agree on an aid package for Ukraine, he pointed to ATACMS as a key weapon for targeting Crimean airfields.

"When Russia knows we can destroy these jets, they will not attack from Crimea," Zelenskyy told The Washington Post.

"It's like with the sea fleet," he added. "We pushed them from our territorial waters. Now we will push them from the airports in Crimea."

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Hey there! Leave it to the Hamptons to figure out a way to turn riding the bus into something fancy.

In today's big story, we examine how tough the job market is for the well-paid employee.

What's on deck:

• Markets: The brutal reality of life as a first-year investment banking analyst.

• Tech: Elon Musk secures a big win for Tesla in China.

• Business: Higher-for-longer interest rates aren't going anywhere.

But first, the plight of the upper middle class.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

High pay, low vibes

More money; more problems.

That's the current job trend, as higher-paid employees are having trouble finding work despite a historically strong labor market.

It's creating what Business Insider's Aki Ito describes as a "white-collar recession." The hiring rate for workers making less than $55,000 annually (1.5%) is well above the rate for those making more than $96,000 (0.5%).

It's true not many people need work, so the lack of open roles isn't critical to the economy. But not everyone is happy at their job.

The dearth of hiring for higher-paying jobs has created a "trapped in place" economy, a concept previously highlighted by BI's Emily Stewart.

There are worse problems than making six figures at a job you don't particularly like. Especially considering the number of Americans struggling to afford basic necessities but making too much to get help.

But as Aki points out, white-collar workers' issues could be a sign of bad times to come for everyone. Companies' hesitancy to hire expensive talent might be about preparing for a market downturn.

The so-called white-collar recession could also have a lasting impact on the job market for high earners.

It comes as high-paying jobs have faced some recent headwinds. Last year saw the demise of middle managers.

And the long-term impact of AI on white-collar roles remains an ongoing question. For example, a key job for aspiring Wall Streeters — investment banking analyst — might face a hiring pullback thanks to the benefits of AI.

It speaks to the broader theme of efficiency Big Tech companies have touted for the better part of a year.

There's still money to be made in corporate America, to be sure. AI specialists remain a sought-after asset for most businesses. Cybersecurity is another good bet, as firms are investing big in the space.

But for the rest of us, the era of cushy jobs with healthy salaries and light responsibilities might be ending.

Maybe that's why Gen Z is going through its own divide. While some young workers are quickly looking to climb the corporate ladder, others have completely disconnected from work or school.

3 things in markets

1. From a dream job to a nightmare. Christine Ji's long days as a junior banker took their toll, and the workload ultimately led her to collapse in the office. The event forced her to reevaluate the career she thought she always wanted.

2. It's a big week for stocks. The Federal Reserve's rate-cut decision and press conference. The April jobs report. Tech giants Amazon and Apple's earnings reports. Raymond James' chief investment officer Larry Adam breaks down what to watch out for during a busy week for the market.

3. Amazon crashes the earnings party. The e-commerce giant is set to report its results for the first quarter after Tuesday's closing bell. Top Wall Street banks including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are bullish on the "Magnificent Seven" tech stock.

3 things in tech

1. Elon Musk's trip to China paid off. Musk made a surprise visit to meet with Premier Li Qiang to discuss the rollout of full self-driving in China. Approval of the tech could boost Tesla sales in the country, but wouldn't be without intense competition, as local rivals are developing their own versions of FSD. Tesla stock surged on Musk's FSD "home run."

2. Introducing the top defense tech VCs. The space has boomed in recent years; According to PitchBook data, defense tech startups received more than $109 billion from investors between 2021 and 2023. Meet the people behind the push.

3. Nvidia's boss has no qualms about being a demanding leader. CEO Jensen Huang has a formidable reputation — and that's the way he likes it. "It should be like that," he said in a recent interview with "60 Minutes." "If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy."

3 things in business

1. Sorry, America. High interest rates are here for a while. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its latest decision on interest rates — and traders believe borrowing costs will likely remain unchanged, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

2. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish stepped down. For the time being, three executives will take his place. Bakish's exit comes as major shareholder Shari Redstone inches closer to a sale of her controlling stake in the company.

3. Shopify plans a switch-up in its Support division. Support director David Kohl said in an update posted to the e-commerce firm's internal Workplace page that Shopify had seen success in its AI experiments, sparking fear among some employees that job cuts are coming.

In other news

• I took the new Hyundai Kona on a family road trip: It's a practical car with pizzazz that I'd be comfortable letting my teenager drive.

• Supreme Court gives SEC a win over Elon Musk.

• Adam Neumann got cut out of WeWork's restructuring deal.

• A VC and former student-athlete who played with Aaron Rodgers breaks down 7 big opportunities in the burgeoning NIL startup scene.

• I make over $2,500 a month from focus groups. Here's how I decide which ones are worth my time and how to find the highest-paying ones.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: Amazon, Starbucks, Pinterest, and other companies are reporting.

• Binance founder Changpeng Zhao will be sentenced following his guilty plea to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London.

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• Retiring lawmakers are once again saying that their $174,000 salary isn't enough.
• Several said that there should be adjustments for inflation and cost of living increases.
• Their salaries haven't changed in 14 years, and some find it difficult to maintain two residences.

It's funny what happens when lawmakers decide to retire: Suddenly, they're willing to say things that wouldn't have said when they still had to face voters.

That's what happened when Rep. Patrick McHenry, one of many retiring House Republicans, told an interviewer earlier this year that the $174,000 salary that rank-and-file members of both the House and Senate receive is not enough.

"Most of us don't have wealth," McHenry said at the time.

Now, even more retiring lawmakers are saying the same thing — and acknowledging that they may not be saying it if they weren't on their way out the door.

"If I go back to my district, where the average salary in some places is $32,000, and I say 'I don't make enough' when I make $174,000, they would go ballistic," former Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican who resigned from Congress in March, told the New York Times. "I'd be out of office in a heartbeat."

But Buck says it's "very difficult" for lawmakers to live on those salaries when they have to maintain residences in two different places.

"When I got to Congress, I realized, holy smokes, that comes out of my pocket without reimbursement," Rep. Tony Cárdenas, a retiring California Democrat, told the Times.

"I've had a roommate every time I've rented an apartment," added Cárdenas, noting that many members of Congress sleep in their offices to cut costs.

Several other members of Congress told the Times that they believe their salaries should be adjusted for inflation and increased cost of living expenses, in part to ensure that a broad swath of people are able to serve in Congress.

"Do you want it to still be the House of the people, or do you want it to be only wealthy people?" Rep. Anna Eshoo, another retiring California Democrat, told the Times.

Though the $174,000 salary is far more than most Americans make — the median household income in 2022 was $74,580, according to the US Census — many lawmakers have complained that it's not enough money to keep up with the costs of serving.

The salary has remained the same since 2009, and if it had kept pace with inflation, lawmakers would now be making more than $250,000 annually.

Good government experts have long said that lawmakers should see a salary increase, arguing that it's an important measure to safeguard against corruption and ensure that the best talent is able to serve.

But polling has long shown that voters hate the idea, and few have been willing to make an argument that's extremely unpopular with the public.

Yet it's not a partisan issue.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has been one of the most vocal proponents of a salary increase, while Ken Cuccinelli — a former Trump administration official — recently filed a lawsuit arguing that the lack of a pay increase since 2009 was unconstitutional.

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• Trump's re-election could bring loads of problems to the US economy, Paul Krugman warned.
• The former president is prone to "magical thinking" and could pursue "destructive" policies, Krugman said.
• Inflation in particular could get worse if Trump imposes tariffs and erodes the Fed's independence.

Trump's re-election would not be good news for the US economy. Blame the former president's "quack" economic policy and his tendency to deny reality, according to Nobel economist Paul Krugman.

Krugman wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times this week on Trump's propensity for "magical thinking," the same way of thinking that led Latin American dictatorships to pursue reckless and inflationary monetary policy in the 1970s and '80s.

Similar "destructive" policies could be re-enacted in the US if Trump is re-elected in November, Krugman said. 

"His behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that he's as addicted to magical thinking and denial of reality as any petty strongman or dictator, which makes it all too likely that he might preside over the type of problems that result when policies are based on quack economics," Krugman wrote.

Some of Trump's economic policies during his presidency were flawed, Krugman said. He pointed, for instance, to Trump's tax cuts in 2017, which ended up favoring the rich over working-class Americans.

If re-elected, Trump has said he plans on cracking down on immigration and imposing tariffs on US imports, especially those from China. But those are deeply flawed ideas about what it would take to bolster US economic strength, Krugman said, as immigration has been key to robust growth in recent years, while high tariffs could easily stoke inflation. 

Inflation could also get worse if Trump looks to exert control over the Federal Reserve, Krugman warned. He pointed to recent reports that suggested Trump's advisors were looking to reduce the independence of the Fed, putting the former president more in control of monetary policy. Presumably, that's to "juice the economy and the stock market the way he wanted to in 2019," Krugman said.

"What's really worrisome, however, are indications that a future Trump regime would manipulate monetary policy in pursuit of short-run political advantage, justifying its actions with crank economic doctrines … The details of these bad ideas are probably less important than the mindset they reveal, one that rejects hard-learned lessons from the past and buys into economic fantasies," Krugman added.

Other economists have warned of potential chaos if Trump is re-elected as president. Top economist Nouriel Roubini said recently a second term for Trump would be one of the biggest risks for the world economy, making inflation and debt worse while hobbling economic growth. 

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• Fisker warned staff it might lay them off in two months if efforts to course correct fail.
• The company said its exploring restructuring alternatives and potential sale discussions.
• Fisker has launched a series of layoffs over the past few months. 

Fisker warned employees on Monday that they could be laid off in two month and the company's facility could close if the company is unable to course correct.

"Fisker is diligently pursuing all options to address our operating cash requirements, including maintaining discussions with prospective buyers and investors and exploring various restructuring alternatives," the company said, according to an email viewed by Business Insider and confirmed by three current workers. "There is a possibility, however, that these efforts will not be successful."

The email, which was sent by the company's new restructuring officer, tells staff that they could be terminated effective June 28 and Fisker's "facility will be closed." The company told staff it was bringing in a restructuring officer last week, according to a previous email viewed by BI.

The memo regarding potential layoffs was sent in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies that have more than 100 workers to provide 60 days of notice before a large-scale layoff or plant closure.

Three current employees told BI that everyone they had spoken to at Fisker said they had received the notice. Fisker's main headquarters is located in Manhattan Beach, California, but it also has other facilities in La Palma, California, as well as in some international sites including Munich and Vienna.

A Fisker spokesperson told BI the company is working to find the best path forward.

"Every decision is made following thorough analysis and careful consideration of the available options, including the appropriate locations and workforce for the go-forward business, as well as our ability to manage our liquidity and sell our inventory," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

"The steps we are taking are intended to give us breathing room to ensure we are maximizing the value of the business and can operate efficiently," the spokesperson added.

Read the full memo below:

As you know, Fisker Group Inc. (the "Company" or "Fisker") has previously communicated that it will provide updates on significant developments that may impact Fisker's workforce. Over the past few months, Fisker's leadership team has been pursuing all avenues to preserve the future of the business and its path forward. Fisker is diligently pursuing all options to address our operating cash requirements, including maintaining discussions with prospective buyers and investors and exploring various restructuring alternatives.

There is a possibility, however, that these efforts will not be successful. Should this possibility materialize, the Company has an obligation to provide "conditional notice" that employees — including yourself — will be terminated on June 28, 2024. If the Company must terminate your employment in the future, the job loss will be permanent and the facility will be closed. The Company has no policy creating transfer, bumping, or reassignment rights for employees laid off from the business. If needed, we will provide you with additional separation information, including information regarding unemployment, COBRA benefits, and severance pay.

This notification does not mean the Company is shutting down or ceasing operations, and receiving this conditional notice does not necessarily mean you will be let go. Fisker is operating under challenging circumstances and we are making every effort to work towards an outcome that facilitates new investment or other strategic solutions. We appreciate your dedication and support for one another during this challenging time. Thank you for your hard work and contributions to Fisker.

In the meantime, please contact me, John DiDonato, Chief Restructuring Officer at ____________ should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

John DiDonato

Do you work for Fisker or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com

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• Dave & Busters will soon allow adults to bet money on games like Skee-Ball and Hot Shot basketball.
• The betting works inside D&B's app, with $5 "cash-based competition" against your friends.
• Now, you can not just be humiliated by losing at arcade games; you can lose money!

Great news for degenerates! Soon, you can bet real money against your friends playing Skee-Ball at Dave & Buster's.

The adult entertainment (the wholesome kind) chain just announced a partnership with Lucra, a company that makes "white-label gamification software" to create gambling betting wagers cash-based competition on certain arcade games when you visit the restaurant.

The experience is 18+ and in the Dave & Buster's app — (It hasn't launched yet, so don't get up from your slot machines and run over there today) — and will allow friends to place $5 bets against each other on games like Skee-Ball, Hot Shots basketball, and other games.

According to CNBC, this won't be regulated like real gambling:

Lucra says its skills-based games are not subject to the same licenses and regulations gambling operators face with games of chance. Lucra is careful not to use the term "bet" or "wager" to describe its games.

"We use real-money contests or challenges," Madding said.

Lucra has also created apps for people to play each other for money in real-life pickleball.

The details of how the Skee-Ball betting will work are not totally clear yet, but it sounds like you'll be betting against your friends, not the house — if you lose, your buddy gets your $5, not Dave & Buster's, which didn't immediately respond to my request for comment.

Over on the Dave & Buster's subreddit, hardcore fans are somewhat confused. "I don't get it. 'Hey man, bet you $5, I can beat you at shooting hoops.' 'Ok, but put it in the app so that D&B can take a cut.'" wrote one person.

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• Another US precision-guided weapon is being foiled by Russian electronic warfare.
• The new weapon, which was rapidly delivered to Ukraine, has repeatedly failed in combat, a US official said.
• Several US weapons have repeatedly been beaten by electronic warfare.

Another US precision-guided weapons has apparently been foiled by Russian electronic warfare, a Pentagon official revealed.

The munition, which was rapidly developed and transported to Ukraine, is just the latest to fail in combat, highlighting the growing challenge of countering cheap Russian jamming tactics.

Last week, Dr. William LaPlante, the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said a new version of a US precision weapon had failed to hit Russian targets partially because of Russian electronic warfare. LaPlante told a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel that the ground-launched weapon, a version of an air-to-ground system, had been quickly developed and deployed to Ukraine after relatively limited safety testing and little operational testing.

Once the weapons arrived in Ukraine, "it didn't work for multiple reasons," LaPlante explained. They included electromagnetic interference and complications from launching the weapon on the ground. "It just didn't work," he said.

He implied that Ukraine had lost interest in the experimental version, noting: "When you send something to people in the fight of their lives that just doesn't work, they'll try it three times and they'll just throw it aside."

While LaPlante didn't confirm what the weapon was, experts told Defense One they suspect the weapon could be the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb, which Ukraine apparently began using by February 2024.

Funding for the ground version of the air-to-air munition was approved in February 2023. The GLSDB has a reported range of up to 90 miles, ideal for targeting Russian logistics centers near the front lines, and relies on GPS as well as an internal system to keep locked onto its target. It's unclear, though, if that's what it was.

If this weapon did fail, it would not be the first US precision-guided weapon foiled by Russian electronic warfare. Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, a valuable weapon for Ukraine that can be fired from its US-provided High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, as well as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, have both been reported to repeatedly fail due to Russian jamming. US defense officials have noted these issues, adding that the US and Ukrainians were working on solutions and countermeasures.

In December, Lt. Gen. Atonio Aguto said electronic warfare directed at some of "our most precise capabilities is a challenge."

Then in March, Daniel Patt, a senior fellow at The Hudson Institute, told Congress the GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shells "had a 70% efficiency rate hitting targets when first used in Ukraine," but "after six weeks, efficiency declined to only 6% as the Russians adapted their electronic warfare systems to counter it."

Patt explained at the time that "the peak efficiency of a new weapon system is only about 2 weeks before countermeasures emerge."

Electronic warfare has been a prominent feature on the battlefield in Ukraine, viewed as a cheap and effective method for both sides to jam GPS-guided weapons like missiles and rockets and signal-driven systems like drones.

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• Elon Musk had a strange way of phrasing a job offer to a former Twitter exec.
• Kayvon Beykpour, ex-head of product, recalled Musk's "hilarious" offer on Lenny's Podcast.
• Beykpour said Musk asked if he wanted to "swipe right" and "hang out and work on the product."

Elon Musk had an interesting way of phrasing a job offer, according to a former Twitter exec who met with him after he purchased the social media company.

Kayvon Beykpour, the former head of product at Twitter, recalled his first in-person meeting with Musk on an episode of Lenny's Podcast released Sunday.

Beykpour said he was let go from Twitter by former CEO Parag Agrawal right before Musk bought the company in 2022, but says Musk made him an offer of sorts to keep working on the platform. Beykpour first joined Twitter in 2015 when it acquired his video live-streaming company, Periscope, for $86.6 million.

Beykpour says he first met Musk over FaceTime before they arranged an in-person meeting at Twitter's headquarters. During a two-hour conversation with Musk there, they discussed "the past, the future of Twitter, the good, the bad, the ugly."

Beykpour notes biographer Walter Isaacson was also present in the room, silently observing all the while, before approaching him at the end of the conversation to ask for his contact information for potential follow-up questions. (Isaacson published a biography on Musk last year.)

During one of their conversations, Musk asked if Beykpour would be interested in continuing to work on product at Twitter.

"Elon was very cool about it," Beykpour said. "He actually used this phrase at the end of our conversation which I still find hilarious. He was just like, 'Do you want to just like come — You seem like you care about the product and you don't have dumb ideas. Do you want to come hang out?'"

Musk asked Beykpour to "swipe right on whether you want to be here," the Periscope cofounder said.

"I was like, 'What would my job be?' And he was like 'Dunno, just like hang out and you can swipe left or swipe right.' He used the swipe right, swipe left Tinder metaphor and I thought that was kind of hilarious coming from him," Beykpour said.

"He was like, 'We don't have to make this a thing. Just like do you want to hang out and work on the product with us?'" he added.

Musk famously swiped left on a majority of Twitter's staff after buying the company. Musk has said Twitter laid off more than 6,000 employees, roughly 80% of its workforce, since he bought it. Several former execs at the company, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, have filed a lawsuit alleging Musk owes them more than $128 million in severance. A former HR boss at Twitter says the company failed to pay $500 million in severance to laid-off staff.

Beykpour ultimately declined Musk's offer.

"I sort of ended up deciding that actually, I'm just ready to move on," he said. "I've spent enough time at this company, at this product, trying to shape it into something that I was passionate about, and I think it's someone else's turn, especially Elon. If you buy it, it's your turn. You can do whatever you want with it."

Today, he's "building something in the consumer space" after starting a company with some cofounders late last year, he added on the podcast.

Beykpour did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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• Larry Ellison, the 79-year-old cofounder of Oracle, is one of the most interesting men in tech.
• Whether yacht-racing, buying Hawaiian islands, or trash-talking competitors, he keeps it lively.
• Now, he's one of the world's richest people with a net worth of $146 billion.

Larry Ellison is the founder and chief technology officer at software company Oracle. He's also one of the world's richest men who owns nearly an entire Hawaiian island and never finished college.

The 79-year-old started his first software company in 1977, and decades later he's still one of the top dogs in Silicon Valley despite living in Hawaii full time. He's among the top five richest people in the world, according to Forbes.

Ellison has been a major investor in Tesla, Salesforce, and even reportedly had a seat on Apple's board of directors for a while.

Outside of the office, the billionaire boasts an impressive watch collection and indulges in hobbies like yacht racing.

Here's a look at the life and career of Ellison so far.

Lawrence Joseph Ellison was born in the Bronx on August 17, 1944, the son of a single mother named Florence Spellman.

When he was 9 months old, Larry came down with pneumonia, according to Vanity Fair. His mom sent him to Chicago to live with his aunt and uncle, Lillian and Louis Ellison.

Vanity Fair reported that Louis, his adoptive father, was a Russian immigrant who took the name "Ellison" in tribute to the place in which he entered the US: Ellis Island.

Ellison is a college dropout.

Ellison went to high school in Chicago's South Side before attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When his adoptive mother died during his second year at college, Ellison dropped out. He tried college again later at the University of Chicago but dropped out again after only one semester, Vanity Fair reported.

In 1966, a 22-year-old Ellison moved to Berkeley, California — near what would become Silicon Valley and already the place where the tech industry was taking off.

He made the trip from Chicago to California in a flashy turquoise Thunderbird that he thought would make an impression in his new life, according to Vanity Fair.

Ellison bounced around from job to job, including stints at companies like Wells Fargo and the mainframe manufacturer Amdahl. Along the way, he learned computer and programming skills.

In 1977, Ellison and partners Bob Miner and Ed Oates founded a new company, Software Development Laboratories.

The company started with $2,000 of funding.

Ellison and company were inspired by IBM computer scientist Edgar F. Codd's theories for a so-called relational database — a way for computer systems to store and access information, according to Britannica. Nowadays, they're taken for granted, but in the '70s, they were a revolutionary idea.

The first version of the Oracle database was version 2 — there was no version 1.

In 1979, the company renamed itself Relational Software Inc., and in 1982, it formally became Oracle Systems Corp., after its flagship product.

In 1986, Oracle had its initial public offering, reporting revenue of $55 million.

As one of the key drivers of the growing computer industry, Oracle grew fast. The company is responsible for providing the databases in which businesses track information that is crucial to their operations.

Ellison became a billionaire at age 49. Now, he has a net worth of roughly $146 billion, according to Forbes, after racking up $50 billion in gains thanks to Oracle and Tesla stock. That makes him the seventh-richest person in the world.

Still, in 1990, Oracle had to lay off 10% of its workforce, about 400 people, because of what Ellison later described as "an incredible business mistake."

Oracle reported a loss of $36 million in September 1990 after admitting that it had miscalculated its revenue earlier that year, according to The New York Times.

It didn't get the decade off to a great start. After adjusting for that error, Oracle was said to be close to bankruptcy. At the same time, rivals like Sybase were eating away at Oracle's market share.

It took a few years, but by 1992, Ellison and Oracle managed to right the course with new employees and the popular Oracle7 database.

Ellison is known for his willingness to trash-talk competitors.

For much of the '90s, he and Oracle were locked in a public-relations battle with the competitor Informix, which went so far as to place a "Dinosaur Crossing" billboard outside Oracle's Silicon Valley offices at one point, Fortune reported in 1997.

His financial success has led to some expensive hobbies.

With Ellison as Oracle's major shareholder, his millions kept rolling in. He started to indulge in some expensive hobbies — including yacht racing. That's Ellison at the helm during a 1995 race.

He also partly financed the BMW Oracle USA sailing team, which won the America's Cup in 2010, according to Bloomberg.

Ellison was an early investor in Salesforce.

In 1999, Ellison's protégé, Marc Benioff, left Oracle to work on a new startup called Salesforce.com. Ellison was an early investor, putting $2 million into his friend's new venture.

When Benioff found out that Ellison had Oracle working on a direct competitor to Salesforce's product, he tried to force his mentor to quit Salesforce's board. Instead, Ellison forced Benioff to fire him — meaning Ellison kept his shares in Salesforce.

Given that Salesforce is now a $267 billion company, Ellison personally profits even when his competitors do well. It has led to a love-hate relationship between the two executives that continues to this day, with the two taking shots at each other in the press.

The dot-com boom of the late '90s benefited Oracle.

All of those new dot-com companies needed databases, and Oracle was there to sell them. Although investors lost out in the dot-com crash, Oracle came out of it stronger due to its acquisitions and the demand for software solutions.

 

With the coffers overflowing, Ellison was able to lead Oracle through a spending spree once the dot-com boom was over and prices were low.

In 2005, for example, Oracle snapped up the HR software provider PeopleSoft for $10.3 billion.

And in 2010, Oracle completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, a server company that started at about the same time as Oracle, in 1982. That acquisition gave Oracle lots of key technology, including control over the popular MySQL database.

Ellison has also spent lavishly over the years, so much so that his accountant, Philip Simon, once asked him to "budget and plan," according to Bloomberg.

Ellison has expensive taste. Over the years he's built up an impressive collection of Richard Mille watches, an expert previously told BI. The timepieces start in the six-figure range and can go for over $1 million in some cases.

In 2009, the billionaire purchased the Indian Wells tennis tournament for a reported $100 million, according to The Los Angeles Times.

In 2010, Ellison signed the Giving Pledge.

By signing the pledge, Ellison promised to donate 95% of his fortune before he dies. And in May 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to a cancer treatment center at the University of Southern California, Forbes reported.

Starting in the 2010s, Ellison started to take more of a back seat at Oracle, handing more responsibilities to trusted lieutenants, like Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, then Oracle's co-presidents.

Ellison hired Hurd, a former CEO of HP, in 2010, Inc reported. Catz has made a reputation for herself among analysts for what they describe as brilliant business strategy.

But Ellison's spending didn't slow down. In 2012, he bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.

Ellison founded a startup called Sensei in 2016 that does hydroponic farming and owns a wellness retreat on Lanai.

He also purchased Hawaiian budget airline Island Air in 2014, before selling a controlling interest in the airline two years later after it struggled financially.

In 2014, Ellison officially stepped down as Oracle CEO.

Ellison handed control over to Hurd and Catz, who became co-CEOs. Ellison now serves as the company's chairman and chief technology officer. Following Hurd's death in 2019, Catz became the sole CEO.

 

In 2016, Ellison scored a personal coup: the purchase of NetSuite.

Back in 1998, Ellison had made a $125 million investment in ex-Oracle exec Evan Goldberg's startup business-management software firm, NetSuite. It ended up working out well for Ellison when NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson negotiated the sale of the company to Oracle for $9.3 billion, netting Ellison a cool $3.5 billion in cash for his stake.

NetSuite investor T. Rowe Price tried to block the deal, citing Ellison's conflict of interest, but the sale closed in November 2016.

He's used his billions in a variety of ways: he invested in educational platform maker Leapfrog Enterprises and was an early investor in the ill-fated blood-testing company Theranos.

Ellison has held shares in some of the most recognizable companies, one of which was the infamous blood-testing company Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes. It had a promising future until its flaws were exposed and Holmes received a prison sentence.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO back in 1997, he asked Ellison to sit on the board. Ellison served for a while, but felt that he couldn't devote the time and left in 2002, according to Forbes. Compensation for his role was an option to buy about 70,000 shares, which would've amounted to about $1 million at the time of his departure.

 

Ellison owns homes on the East and West coasts as part of a multi-billion-dollar real estate portfolio.

Ellison reportedly owns the Astor Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, and a home in Malibu. Ellison also has houses in Palm Beach, Florida and more in a multibillion-dollar real estate portfolio.

Both of his two children work in the film industry.

His daughter, Megan, is an Oscar-nominated film producer and the founder of Annapurna Pictures. The company has produced films like "Zero Dark Thirty" and "American Hustle."

Ellison's son, David, is also in the film business. His company, Skydance Media, has produced movies like "Terminator: Dark Fate" and films in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. Whispers of David becoming the new owner of Paramount swirled in April due to his father's net worth.

Ellison has a reputation as an international, jet-setting playboy.

Ellison has been married and divorced four times. He has most recently dated Nikita Kahn, a model and actress.

Ellison was one of the few tech leaders who had a friendly relationship with former President Donald Trump.

Ellison said publicly that he supported Trump and wants him to do well, and hosted a Trump fundraiser at his Rancho Mirage home in February, though he did not attend. The fundraiser caused an outcry among Oracle employees, who started a petition asking senior Oracle leadership to stand up to Ellison.

Catz, the CEO of Oracle, also had close ties to the Trump administration, having served on Trump's transition team. 

Ellison and Trump remained close during Trump's time in office and reportedly spoke on the phone about possible coronavirus treatments. Trump also supported Oracle's bid to buy TikTok, calling Oracle a "great company."  

In December 2018, Ellison joined the board of directors at Tesla, where he's been a major investor.

Earlier in 2018, Ellison described Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a "close friend," and defended him from critics. When Musk acquired Twitter — now X — in 2022, Ellison offered to invest $1 billion.

Musk went on to help Ellison reset his forgotten password, according to biographer Walter Isaacson.

 

In December 2020, Ellison revealed that he moved to Lanai full-time.

The announcement came after Oracle decided to move its headquarters to Austin, Texas, leading Oracle employees to ask Ellison if he planned to move to Texas too.

"The answer is no," Ellison wrote in a company-wide email. "I've moved to the state of Hawaii and I'll be using the power of Zoom to work from the island of Lanai."

He signed the email: "Mahalo, Larry."

 

He left Tesla's board in August 2022.

In a proxy filing in June 2022, the electric vehicle maker revealed that Ellison would be leaving the board. Since then, he and Musk have appeared to maintain their close relationship.

Oracle had a record-breaking 2023, and cemented itself in the new age of artificial intelligence.

Oracle's shares continued to hit records, CNBC reported. The company proved that it's not going any where any time soon.

In 2023, Oracle backed OpenAI rival Cohere.

Oracle joined other tech giants, like Salesforce, in backing the tech startup in June 2023. It began offering generative AI to its clients based on tech made by Cohere.

"Cohere and Oracle are working together to make it very, very easy for enterprise customers to train their own specialized large language models while protecting the privacy of their training data," Ellison previously said.

Oracle announced in April that it would be moving its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee.

Despite its big move to Austin only four years ago, Ellison said that Oracle is planning to move its world headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee.

In April 2024, the exec announced that Oracle has plans for a "huge campus" in Nashville that will one day serve as the software giant's world headquarters. The company relocated from the San Francisco area to Austin, Texas in 2020.

"It's the center of the industry we're most concerned about, which is the healthcare industry," Ellison said at the Oracle Health Summit in Nashville, according to CNBC.

Matt Weinberger and Taylor Nicole Rogers contributed to an earlier version of this story.

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