Softwar

This biography of the outspoken tech billionaire and founder of Oracle offers “a rare window on Ellison’s mind” (The New York Times).

In a business where great risks, huge fortunes, and even bigger egos are common, Larry Ellison stood out as one of the most daring and driven leaders of the software industry. Oracle—the company he cofounded and ran—made pioneering advances, dominated the market, and turned Ellison into a Silicon Valley icon whose exploits are the stuff of legend.

In Softwar, journalist Matthew Symonds gives readers exclusive and intimate insight into both Oracle and the man who made it. As well as relating the story of Oracle’s often bumpy path to success, Symonds deals with the private side of Ellison’s life. With unlimited insider access granted by Ellison himself, Symonds captures the intensity and, some would say, the recklessness that have made Ellison such a controversial figure.

With a new and expanded epilogue that tells the story behind Oracle’s epic struggle to win control of PeopleSoft, Softwar is the most complete portrait undertaken of the man and his empire—a unique and gripping account of both an extraordinary life and the way the computing industry really works.