Larry J. Ellison - Academy of Achievement

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Ellison - Academy of Achievement</title>  <meta name="description" content=""It's my job for Oracle -- the number two software company in the world -- to become the number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace, and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one." When Larry Ellison first expressed these goals for his comany, more than a few people thought his ambition laughable. Oracle led the software pack in relational database technology, but many observers saw this as a mere niche market in the industry, while mighty Microsoft provided the operating systems and office software in the coveted personal computer sector. By the year 2000, Larry Ellison had drawn within reach of his goal. In a single quarter, the company's net profits increased by an astounding 76 percent. As the value of Microsoft and other high tech stocks fluctuated wildly, Oracle not only maintained its value, but gained, and Larry Ellison had drawn very close to his rival Bill Gates in rankings of the world's richest men. His strategic acquisitions of PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and Sun Microsystems have made Oracle the world's leader in business software."/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Larry J. Ellison - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">"It's my job for Oracle -- the number two software company in the world -- to become the number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace, and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one."</p> <p class="inputText">When Larry Ellison first expressed these goals for his comany, more than a few people thought his ambition laughable. Oracle led the software pack in relational database technology, but many observers saw this as a mere niche market in the industry, while mighty Microsoft provided the operating systems and office software in the coveted personal computer sector.</p> <p class="inputText">By the year 2000, Larry Ellison had drawn within reach of his goal. In a single quarter, the company's net profits increased by an astounding 76 percent. As the value of Microsoft and other high tech stocks fluctuated wildly, Oracle not only maintained its value, but gained, and Larry Ellison had drawn very close to his rival Bill Gates in rankings of the world's richest men. His strategic acquisitions of PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and Sun Microsystems have made Oracle the world's leader in business software.</p>"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ellison-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">"It's my job for Oracle -- the number two software company in the world -- to become the number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace, and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one."</p> <p class="inputText">When Larry Ellison first expressed these goals for his comany, more than a few people thought his ambition laughable. Oracle led the software pack in relational database technology, but many observers saw this as a mere niche market in the industry, while mighty Microsoft provided the operating systems and office software in the coveted personal computer sector.</p> <p class="inputText">By the year 2000, Larry Ellison had drawn within reach of his goal. In a single quarter, the company's net profits increased by an astounding 76 percent. As the value of Microsoft and other high tech stocks fluctuated wildly, Oracle not only maintained its value, but gained, and Larry Ellison had drawn very close to his rival Bill Gates in rankings of the world's richest men. His strategic acquisitions of PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and Sun Microsystems have made Oracle the world's leader in business software.</p>"/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Larry J. 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<div class="feature-area__text-inner text-white"> <h2 class="serif-8 feature-area__text-subhead back"><a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever">All achievers</a></h2> <h1 class="serif-1 entry-title feature-area__text-headline">Larry J. Ellison</h1> <h5 class="sans-6 feature-area__blurb">Founder and Executive Chairman, Oracle Corporation</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-2305 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-entrepreneur"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane fade in active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">Great achievers are driven, not so much by the pursuit of success, but by the fear of failure.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">Prophet of Software</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> August 17, 1944 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_14893" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14893 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14893 size-full lazyload" alt="Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks at an Oracle and Sun Strategy Update event in Redwood City, California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)" width="2280" height="3313" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432-262x380.jpg 262w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432-523x760.jpg 523w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks at an Oracle and Sun Strategy Update event in Redwood City, California. (AP)</figcaption></figure><p>Lawrence J. Ellison was born in the Bronx, New York. At nine months, he contracted pneumonia, and his unmarried 19-year-old mother gave him to her aunt and uncle in Chicago to raise. Lawrence was raised in a two-bedroom apartment on the city’s South Side. Until he was twelve years old he did not know that he was adopted. His adoptive father had lost his real estate business in the Great Depression and made a modest living as an auditor for the public housing authority. As a boy, Larry Ellison showed an independent, rebellious streak and often clashed with his adoptive father. From an early age, he showed a strong aptitude for math and science, and was named science student of the year at the University of Illinois.</p> <p>During the final exams in his second year, Larry Ellison’s adoptive mother died, and he dropped out of school. He enrolled at the University of Chicago the following fall, but dropped out again after the first semester. His adoptive father was now convinced that Larry would never make anything of himself, but the seemingly aimless young man had already learned the rudiments of computer programming in Chicago. He took this skill with him to Berkeley, California, arriving with just enough money for fast food and a few tanks of gas. For the next eight years, Ellison bounced from job to job, working as a technician for Fireman’s Fund and Wells Fargo Bank. As a programmer at Amdahl Corporation, he participated in building the first IBM-compatible mainframe system.</p> <p>In 1977, Ellison and two of his Amdahl colleagues, Robert Miner and Ed Oates, founded their own company, Software Development Labs. From the beginning, Ellison served as chief executive officer. Ellison had come across a paper called “A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks” by Edgar F. (“Ted”) Codd, describing a concept Codd had developed at IBM. Codd’s employers saw no commercial potential in the concept of a Structured Query Language (SQL), but Larry Ellison did.</p> <figure id="attachment_35681" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-35681 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-35681 lazyload" alt="Academy members Larry Ellison, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and author Tom Clancy in a panel discussion." width="2280" height="1523" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage-380x254.jpg 380w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage-760x508.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Academy members Larry Ellison, United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Breyer, and best-selling author Tom Clancy in a panel discussion during the 1997 American Academy of Achievement program in Baltimore, MD.</figcaption></figure><p>Larry Ellison and his partners won a two-year contract to build a relational database management system (RDBMS) for the CIA. The project’s code name: Oracle. They finished the project a year ahead of schedule and used the extra time to develop their system for commercial applications. They named their commercial RDBMS Oracle as well. In 1980, Ellison’s company had only eight employees, and revenues were less than $1 million, but the following year, IBM itself adopted Oracle for its mainframe systems, and Oracle’s sales doubled every year for the next seven years. The million-dollar company was becoming a billion-dollar company. Ellison renamed the company Oracle Corporation, for its bestselling product.</p> <figure id="attachment_14895" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14895 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14895 size-full lazyload" alt="BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison brandishes the America's Cup trophy after winning the international yacht race in Valencia, Spain in 2010. (AP Images/Alberto Saiz)" width="2280" height="1545" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315-380x258.jpg 380w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315-760x515.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">2010: Larry Ellison brandishes the America’s Cup trophy after winning the international yacht race in Spain. (AP)</figcaption></figure><p>Oracle went public in 1986, raising $31.5 million with its initial public offering, but the firm’s zealous young staff habitually overstated revenues, and in 1990 the company posted its first losses. Oracle’s market capitalization fell by 80 percent, and the company appeared to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Accepting the need for drastic change, he replaced much of the original senior staff with more experienced managers. For the first time, he delegated the management side of the business to professionals, and channeled his own energies into product development. A new version of the database program Oracle 7, released in 1992, swept the field and made Oracle the industry leader in database management software. In only two years the company’s stock had regained much of its previous value.</p> <p>Even as Oracle’s fortunes rose again, Ellison suffered a series of personal mishaps. Long an enthusiast of strenuous outdoor activities, Ellison suffered serious injuries while body surfing and mountain biking. He recovered from major surgery, and continued to race his 78-foot yacht, <em>Sayonara</em>, and to practice aerobatics in a succession of private jets, including decommissioned fighter planes. In 1998, Ellison and <em>Sayonara</em> won the Sydney-to-Hobart race, overcoming near-hurricane winds that sank five other boats, drowning six participants. Ellison is a principal supporter of the BMW Oracle Racing team, which has been a significant force in America’s Cup competition. His yacht <em>Rising Sun</em>, over 450 feet long, is one of the largest privately owned vessels in the world.</p> <figure id="attachment_14894" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14894 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14894 size-full lazyload" alt="The November 20, 2000 issue of Fortune magazine called Larry Ellison "The Next Richest Man in the World."" width="2280" height="3200" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune-271x380.jpg 271w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune-542x760.jpg 542w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The November 20, 2000 issue of<em> Fortune</em> magazine called Larry Ellison “The Next Richest Man in the World.”</figcaption></figure><p>Oracle’s fortunes continued to rise throughout the 1990s. America’s banks, airlines, automobile companies and retail giants all came to depend on Oracle’s database programs. Under Ellison’s leadership, Oracle became a pioneer in providing business applications over the Internet. Oracle benefited hugely from the growth of electronic commerce; its net profits increased by 76 percent in a single quarter of the year 2000. As the stocks of other high-tech companies fluctuated wildly, Oracle held its value, and its largest shareholder, founder and CEO Larry Ellison, came close to a long-cherished goal, surpassing Microsoft founder Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world.</p> <p>Beginning in 2004, Ellison set out to increase Oracle’s market share through a series of strategic acquisitions. Oracle spent more than $25 billion in only three years to buy a flock of companies and large and small makers of software for managing data, identity, retail inventory and logistics. The first major acquisition was PeopleSoft, purchased at the end of 2004 for $10.3 billion. No sooner was the ink dry on the PeopleSoft deal than Ellison trumped rival SAP to acquire retail software developer Retek. Within the following year, Oracle also acquired competitor Siebel Systems. Ellison capped this buying spree with the acquisition of business intelligence software provider Hyperion Solutions in 2007. Two years later, in the depths of a global recession, Ellison once again acted boldly, acquiring computer hardware and software manufacturer Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion. Oracle became the world’s largest business software company, supplying all 100 of of the Fortune Global 100.</p> <p>After many years of pursuing a victory in the America’s Cup yacht race, Ellison triumphed at last in 2010. Ellison joined the crew of the BMW Oracle for the second leg of the two-day competition, when the giant trimaran, with its revolutionary 223-foot wing sail, ended the race five minutes and 25 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Ellison’s victory brought the 159-year-old America’s Cup, the oldest trophy in international sports, back to the United States for the first time in 15 years.</p> <figure id="attachment_14925" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14925 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14925 size-full lazyload" alt="Oracle CEO Larry Ellison with Oracle Team USA after winning the 18th race of the America's Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand, September 24, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)" width="1024" height="599" data-sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599.jpg 1024w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599-380x222.jpg 380w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599-760x445.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Oracle Chairman and CEO Larry Ellison with Oracle Team USA after winning the 18th race of the America’s Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand, September 24, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)</figcaption></figure><p>The America’s Cup race is scheduled by agreement between the defending champion and the challenger who has qualified through a preceding series of races. In recent decades, the contest has been held roughly once every three years. The United States, represented by the Golden Gate Yacht Club and Ellison’s Team Oracle had their first opportunity to defend their hard-won title in September 2013. At Ellison’s insistence, the 2013 contest was held in San Francisco Bay, where it could easily be witnessed by spectators on shore. The contest consisted of a series of races, with the cup going to the first team to win nine races. Both teams now raced wing-sail catamarans. The competing craft would be the most technically sophisticated — and most expensive — racing yachts ever built. The opening rounds went badly for Team Oracle, with challenger New Zealand Emirates taking the lead. New Zealand won the first eight races, apparently dooming the Oracle team to defeat. In a stunning turnaround, Oracle took the next race, and the next, and the next, winning the contest nine races to eight. Just as Ellison revolutionized the world of business software, so has he transformed the sport of yacht racing.</p> <p>Today, Larry Ellison has his principal residences on Carbon Beach in Malibu, California and Woodside, California. In 2012, Ellison purchased 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lana’i; the remainder is owned by the State of Hawaii. The price was not made public but was reported to be as high as $500 million. Ellison announced plans to make the island into “the first economically viable, 100 percent green community.”</p> <p>Larry Ellison served as President of Oracle from 1978 to 1996, and undertook two stints as Chairman of the Board, from 1990 to 1992 and again from 1995 to 2004. For the company’s first 37 years, he was Oracle’s only chief executive officer. In 2014, he relinquished the role of CEO, entrusting the post to two longtime associates. He now holds the role of Executive Chairman and continues to serve as Chief Technology Officer. He remains the company’s most visible spokesperson.</p> <figure id="attachment_15237" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-15237 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-15237 size-full lazyload" alt="Larry Ellison and Nikita Kahn attend the Friends Of The Israel Defense Forces 2014 Western Region Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 6, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tiffany Rose/WireImage)" width="2280" height="1729" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master-380x288.jpg 380w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master-760x576.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Larry Ellison and Nikita Kahn attend the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces 2014 Western Region Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 6, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tiffany Rose/WireImage/Getty)</figcaption></figure><p>In May of 2016, it was announced that Lawrence Ellison would donate $200 million to the University of Southern California to create a new cancer research center in West Los Angeles. The gift matched the largest single donation ever received by the university. The Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine will deploy experts in physics, biology, math and engineering in a coordinated effort to prevent, detect and treat cancer.  In 2017, Ellison’s personal fortune was estimated at $55 billion, which made him one of the five wealthiest living Americans.  His fortune continues to grow and as of 2018 he was ranked as the eighth wealthiest individual in the world.</p> </body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 1997 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.entrepreneur">Entrepreneur</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> August 17, 1944 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p class="inputTextFirst">“It’s my job for Oracle — the number two software company in the world — to become the number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace, and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one.”</p> <p class="inputText">When Larry Ellison first expressed these goals for his comany, more than a few people thought his ambition laughable. Oracle led the software pack in relational database technology, but many observers saw this as a mere niche market in the industry, while mighty Microsoft provided the operating systems and office software in the coveted personal computer sector.</p> <p class="inputText">By the year 2000, Larry Ellison had drawn within reach of his goal. In a single quarter, the company’s net profits increased by an astounding 76 percent. As the value of Microsoft and other high tech stocks fluctuated wildly, Oracle not only maintained its value, but gained, and Larry Ellison had drawn very close to his rival Bill Gates in rankings of the world’s richest men. His strategic acquisitions of PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems and Sun Microsystems have made Oracle the world’s leader in business software.</p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/qriZvWzNPho?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=2077&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_01_03_20.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_01_03_20.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">Prophet of Software</h2> <div class="sans-2">Baltimore, Maryland</div> <div class="sans-2">May 22, 1997</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>How did you become involved with relational database programming?</strong></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZ8Aaj7LZBg?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=44&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_07_49_16.Still007-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_07_49_16.Still007-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/preparation/">Preparation</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>Larry Ellison: Relational database technology was invented by a guy by the name of Ted Codd at IBM. It’s based on relational algebra and relational calculus. It is a very mathematically rigorous form of data management that we can prove mathematically to be functionally complete. This work was done in the early seventies by an IBM fellow by the name of Ted Codd. He published his papers, and really, based on those publications, Oracle decided to see if we (we were four guys) couldn’t beat IBM to market with this technology, based on the published IBM research papers. And in fact we did.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>What is the biggest obstacle you’ve ever had to face in your professional life? Was there a time that you thought you actually might fail?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: There were lots of times, especially in the early days, that were very, very difficult. I think the most difficult experience I had was in 1990 when Oracle had its only loss quarter in history. We’d been in business for 20 years, and after 20 years we lost money one quarter. We had a very difficult time. We had virtually doubled our sales every year for ten years. Nine out of ten years, ten out of eleven years. It was really quite an amazing run. We were the fastest growing company in history, and still are the fasting growing company in history over a long period of time.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/HzZOfoHzju4?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=78&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_08_06_08.Still008-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_08_06_08.Still008-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/courage/">Courage</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>Suddenly we hit a wall. We reached a billion dollars in revenue, and we were having serious management problems all over the place. The people who were running the company, the billion-dollar company, were the same people that had run the company when we were a 15 million-dollar company, one twentieth the size. I had an incredible sense of loyalty to those people who had worked with me to build Oracle. It was a very painful realization in 1990 that I was going to have to change the management team. The company had outgrown the management. People who are good at running a 15 million-dollar company don’t use the same skills. They’re just different, not one is better or worse, just an entirely different skill set in running a 15 million-dollar company than a billion-dollar company. Both skill sets are rare and precious. But we needed a different group of managers, and virtually the entire management team had to be replaced. That means I had to ask people who I had worked with for a decade to leave. I had to fire people. That was the most difficult thing I had to do in business, asking a bunch of people to leave Oracle.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><p><strong>What kept you going through that time?</strong></p> <figure id="attachment_14892" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14892 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14892 size-full lazyload" alt="BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison poses next to the center hull of his BOR 90 boat in Valencia, Spain, 2010. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)" width="2280" height="3145" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013.jpg 2280w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013-275x380.jpg 275w, /web/20190115043007im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013-551x760.jpg 551w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison poses next to the center hull of his BOR 90 boat in Valencia, Spain, 2010.</figcaption></figure><p>Larry Ellison: That I had no choice. I had to ask them to leave Oracle, or everyone had to leave Oracle, because there wouldn’t be any Oracle left. In that sense, it was a simple choice. Thousands of people worked for Oracle. They deserved the best leadership you could find. My primary responsibility was to the company and to all of the staff, all of our shareholders, and all of our customers. Therefore, I had to choose. And if I couldn’t make that decision, then I had to go.</p> <p><strong>People have accused you of launching some brutal attacks on your competition. Is that an okay thing to do?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Were you shocked by the way we treated Iraq? We were incredibly aggressive against them. Was that really right? Of course we were aggressive against the Iraqis. They invaded Kuwait, they were threatening our oil supplies, they were threatening the world order. It was the job of our armed forces to defeat the enemy.</p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/1WbUlFf-zYI?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=78&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_07_00_15.Still006-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_07_00_15.Still006-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>It is my job to go out into the marketplace and win. We run ads that compare our products to the competitors’ products. We don’t lie about this, we just say, “We can do this; they can’t.” We name the competition, it’s fact-based advertising. We say very clearly that we’re faster, and these tests prove it. We’re more reliable, and these tests prove it. We’re more economical, and so we’ll name a competitor. Even if the facts are true, it’s considered a little bit rude by some people. I don’t think it’s immoral. I think that we’re giving true facts to customers, giving valuable information to customers so they can make better decisions. It is Bill Gates’s job to make Microsoft the biggest company on earth, that’s what he’s paid for. It’s my job for Oracle — to move from the number two software company in the world to become the number one software company in the world. That’s my job, that’s what I’m paid for. If I’m not aggressive enough in the pursuit of that, if I’m not successful in the pursuit of that, I should be gotten rid of. If the general running Desert Storm is not aggressive enough and successful enough in the pursuit of that goal, he should be fired.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p>I don’t think it’s immoral. I think that we’re giving true facts to customers, giving valuable information to customers so they can make better decisions.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/d9Dx2shXnUQ?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=63&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_00_23_16.Still001-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_00_23_16.Still001-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>Larry Ellison: The corporation’s primary goal is to defeat the competition in the marketplace. My primary function is to make Oracle successful, to make it a good and interesting place to work, because we don’t want people to leave. This is America, people can change jobs, and people like to work with other intelligent and interesting people. They like to do interesting things. We have fantastic salary scales; I think we’re the highest paying company in Silicon Valley. We have wonderful benefits, all of these things, but again, don’t mistake any of that for altruism. That is in our interest, to retain our employees. Their job, my job, is to build better products than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace, and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one. That is our reason for being.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>What are you like as an employer?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: The corporation’s primary goal is to defeat the competition in the marketplace. My primary function is to make Oracle successful, to make it a good and interesting place to work, because we don’t want people to leave.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/GNa3rlArnqM?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=46&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_04_59_24.Still004-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_04_59_24.Still004-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>There are networks everywhere: around the world, in offices, in schools, in major government institutions. So why not have computer networks that are similar to television networks or telephone networks? A television network is enormously complicated. It has got satellites and relay stations and cable head-ins and recording studios. You have this huge, professionally managed network, accessed by a very low-cost and simple appliance, the television. Anyone can learn how to use a television. Ninety-seven percent of American households have televisions. Ninety-four percent of American households have telephones. The telephone: again, a very simple appliance attached to an enormously complex, professionally managed network. Why shouldn’t the computer network be just the same?</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p>Oracle is the number one software company in the world for providing technology to manage information. But we’re only the number two software company overall. Microsoft is the number one software company. But right now we’re living at the dawn of the information age, not the dawn of the PC age. So we’re wonderfully positioned to pass Microsoft and become number one. That’s my job. The personal computer was designed as a stand-alone device. There was no Internet around in 1981 when the PC was invented. There weren’t a lot of local area networks in schools and government agencies back in 1981, but the world has changed.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/eJsrP631zv8?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=83&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_09_57_27.Still010-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_09_57_27.Still010-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>Larry Ellison: I decided to go into the computer business in college. I started working part-time programming. I found that in a very short period of time, I could make more money writing programs than a tenured professor at the University of Chicago was making, and I was a teenager. I said, “Well, this is kind of cool.” It was also fun, it was like a big game, it was like working on puzzles. So I enjoyed it. It paid extremely well, I could work at home, I could work my own hours. I closely associated with computers, because they were absolutely a slave to reason, they knew nothing about fashion. They were completely logical. I enjoyed spending time with them. I liked what I was doing, it was very profitable, and it was very creative. It was also giving me immediate feedback. I could start writing a program, and within several hours, I could have a result. Freud defines maturity as the ability to defer gratification. The great thing about programming is you don’t have to be mature at all. You don’t have to defer gratification for more than a few hours. You get wonderful, tight feedback. It’s a lot of fun. That’s characteristic of games and sports. The reason why games and sports are so popular is because you win or lose very quickly. You get immediate feedback. It’s a very tight loop, you don’t wait hours or days or years before you find out if you’re winning or losing. You find out a second-and-a-half after you release that basketball. You know whether it’s going in or not.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>How did you land that first job?</strong></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190115043007if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/ItsSsdYmwzw?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=28&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_09_31_15.Still009-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ellison-Larry-1997-MasterEdit.00_09_31_15.Still009-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>Larry Ellison: It was in school, and they noticed when I was writing programs for school, I was getting done faster than everybody else. They offered me a job. I figured out very, very quickly that rather than being paid by the hour, I was much better off being paid by the program. I was working at the university, and then I started doing consulting for local businesses. That worked very well.</p> </div> </div>     <aside class="collapse" id="full-interview">    <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>Looking back on your childhood, can you see the Larry Ellison of today taking root when you were young?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I don’t think my personality has changed much since I was five years old. The most important aspect of my personality, as far as determining my success goes, has been my questioning conventional wisdom, doubting the experts, and questioning authority. While that can be very painful in relationships with your parents and teachers, it’s enormously useful in life.</p> <p>I was born in New York City. My mother was 19, she wasn’t married, and really was unable to care for me. She tried until I was nine months old, and then I was adopted by my maternal aunt and uncle in Chicago. I moved to the south side of Chicago. I’ll never complain again about living in a bad neighborhood, after moving from the lower east side of Manhattan to a still worse neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. After my ninth month, I kept my mouth shut about the neighborhood.</p> <p><strong>How did this affect you?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I believed until I was twelve years old that I was not adopted. I had no idea that I was adopted within my own family. I don’t attribute very much of my life, my personality to my adoption. I attribute an awful lot to my relationship with my father, who was a Russian immigrant. He came here and was very, very poor. He dearly loved this country as only an immigrant can, loved our government as only an immigrant can. He was a pilot in World War II, bomber pilot. He really had the philosophy of “my country, right or wrong.” He never questioned the government’s policies, never questioned authority, and he didn’t really want me to question authority. I had some teachers when I was very young that I thought were telling me things that weren’t true. When I tried to ask questions, they basically wanted me to parrot back what they said. They really weren’t interested in a discourse with a child, or a debate with a child. They said this was true, and “You are smart if you can repeat back to me exactly what I said to you.” I had a real problem with that as well. I had very strong authoritarian figures, both in school and at home, which served as wonderful examples of how not to be.</p> <p><strong>Was there anybody who was supportive?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Oh sure, my Mom was supportive, and I had a mixture of teachers. Some of the teachers were wonderful, and some of the teachers were awful, but the awful teachers served a good purpose by being a bad example. All examples are good. Bad examples are useful; good examples are useful. It taught me to question experts, to question authority figures. Don’t assume they’re right just because they’re in authority, or just because they’re experts. In other words…</p> <p>Think things out for yourself. Come to your own judgments. Don’t simply conform to conventional ways of thinking, conventional ways of dressing, conventional ways of acting. A lot of things are based on fashion, even morality at times is based on fashion. Slavery was once not considered not to be immoral. People are shocked that the ancient Greeks had slaves, that we had slavery in this country as recently as one-hundred-and-thirty, one-hundred-and-forty years ago. You have to really go back to first principles, and think things out for yourself. Whether they’re scientific principles, or moral principles, or business ideas or product ideas, you have to think things out for yourself.</p> <p><strong>What was it about your dad that you rebelled against? Was it just his pat acceptance of the American value system?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I don’t know if you watched the movie <em>Independence Day,</em> but there’s a scene between a father and son where the father says, “The government knows everything. The government has experts for everything.” It’s this notion that we really can’t understand anything, that the government is always right, that our teachers are always right, that our clergymen are always right. Use them as your sole beacons in life, and don’t try to figure these things out on your own, because you’re not smart enough. Just find the appropriate experts, and follow their light.”</p> <p><strong>It’s interesting that you had the insight to realize you could let yourself be brainwashed or not. I don’t know if many kids question those things at such an early age .</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I think an awful lot of kids are incredibly bright. An awful lot of kids, I think we’re born slaves to reason. It’s really reason that’s beaten out of us, through a process of trying to please our teachers. I think we have two fundamental drives in our life: we want to be loved and we want to please people; and we know how to think, we know how to reason. These are often quite at odds, because we’re asked to believe that certain things are correct, that we have to wear our hair a certain length, and dress a certain way. And if you want to be loved, if you want to be accepted by your peers, you want to be accepted by your family, there is a tension there. Sometimes we’re pleasing our parents, sometimes we’re pleasing our peers, but we’re often just conforming to some fashion, figuring out what the group wants from us, and then conforming to that because we want to be accepted and loved. There’s this other fundamental drive inside of us, that there is often tension between the two and that is the ability to think, the ability to reason, the ability to come to conclusions as to what works and what doesn’t, what’s fair and what’s not fair, what’s right and what’s wrong. When fashion and the pursuit of love is in conflict with reason, too often fashion and the pursuit of love usually win. In my case, it didn’t.</p> <p><strong>You’re known for speaking your mind and not following the norm.</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: It is true. I do not give fashionable answers to questions. That’s what shocks people because when they ask you a question and expect everyone to answer it exactly the same way. In fact, you really don’t need to ask the question, because this is the fashionable answer. Whenever you give your own answer, what you really believe to be true, rather than the fashion answer, people are sometimes shocked, amused or even horrified depending on the question.</p> <p><strong>You already had that work ethic. You’re kind of a paradox. You have a very serious side, and a completely fun side.</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I don’t think it’s paradoxical at all. As human beings we are endlessly curious about ourselves. We find all sorts of arenas to test ourselves in. Right now, I have the fastest racing sailboat in the world, maybe the fastest racing sailboat in history. <em>Sayonara</em> has raced 26 times; we have 24 firsts and two seconds. I’m discovering all sorts of things about myself as I race that boat. I discover all sorts of things about myself every day as Oracle competes with Microsoft for supremacy in the software world.</p> <p>There’s a wonderful saying that’s dead wrong. “Why did you climb the mountain?” “I climbed the mountain because it was there.” That is utter nonsense. It’s ludicrous and absurd. You climbed the mountain because <em>you</em> were there, and you were curious if you could do it. You wondered what it would be like. You wondered what the view was from the top. That’s how we explore the thing that we’re most interested in. We explore our own limits, and our relationship with others. We’re much more interested in each other, and in ourselves, than we are in everything else.</p> <p><strong>You seem to thrive on a certain kind of balance between work and play.</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I think there are two things that are important in life, and that’s self-discovery, and your relationship with others. I spend my entire life in those two areas. What is play? What is work? Is work something you get paid for and play something you don’t? I put a lot of work into my flying, and a lot of work into my sailing. I used to play tournament chess, I put a lot of work into that. They were all forms of exploration. I put a lot of work into my job, where I get paid. They’re all in pursuit of the same thing: self-discovery, the discovery of my own limits.</p> <p>The best thing about my life is the people I get to meet these days. If there’s any advantage to celebrity, it’s getting to meet absolutely wonderful and fascinating people. Walter Cronkite and I went out sailing on <em>Sayonara.</em> We went from being casual acquaintances, to doing business, to being friends. He’s an extraordinary man, he’s lived an extraordinary life. I could sit for hours just listening to him and his wife tell stories.</p> <p>Michael Milken is actually singled out as the symbol of evil and greed in the 1980s, but he’s one of the most humane and gifted men I’ve ever met. Michael has raised more money for cancer research than any other human being on earth. He’s been dedicated to education for 20 years, but because of someone’s political advantage, they decided to put him in jail for crimes that no one else has done time for before or since. It’s not terribly fashionable to be a supporter of Michael Milken, but I’m honored to have him as my friend. I think he has made incredible contributions to humankind already, with a lot more coming up.</p> <p>There’s a long list of wonderful people that I’ve met, and wonderful relationships that have enriched my life. There’s the balance between self-exploration and building relationships with others. Those are the important things in life. Winston Churchill said, “You don’t make a living by what you get, you make a living by what you give.”</p> <p>If we live intelligently, we devise a strategy to pursue happiness intelligently. There should be a guide book to the intelligent pursuit of happiness. There isn’t such a book, but there should be. More than anything else, that’s what all of us need: a guide to how to pursue happiness intelligently. Jefferson guaranteed our right to do it, but he didn’t give us a map.</p> <p>I think we should think of altruism — giving — as a strategy for happiness. Forget the morality of it all. “It’s the right thing to do.” Instead, think of it as something totally in your self-interest. If you can help others, you will feel great. The more you can help, the more intelligently you can help, the bigger lever you can get on the world to make it better, the better you will feel about yourself. The more joy you will experience. That is the road to bliss. That is the intelligent pursuit of happiness. That is what we should do. That is my argument for giving, not simply that it’s the right and moral thing to do. It happens to also be that, but I don’t find that as persuasive as that it is the road to happiness.</p> <p><strong>Have you ever been deeply afraid?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Deeply afraid? Yes, only once. The most deeply afraid I can ever remember being was once my mother came — I might have been six — and I went to school, and my mother came home very late from work. It was six o’clock, so no one was home. I was very worried that my mother wouldn’t come home, and I was deeply afraid. That’s the only time I can remember being deeply afraid. I was also making deals with God, if he would return her to me.</p> <p><strong>With all of the risk that you take in your professional and your personal life, how do you deal with the fear factor?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: There’s a mild degree of fear; a sociobiologist would tell you that fear is the prevalent human emotion. I certainly feel a little stress, if I just bought a jet fighter and I’m flying it for the very first time, and doing aerobatics very low to the ground. I wouldn’t call it fear, but it’s a little bit of a rush. That gets the adrenaline going, and I thrive on it. I don’t really call that fear. That’s a somewhat pleasant experience for me. Extreme fear is awful, but out-on-the-edge a little bit, where you have a mild sensation of apprehension and concern, is something I actually enjoy.</p> <p><strong>You had so many questions about your parents’ values. Do you think the independence you had as a child had something to do with developing your self-confidence?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: No doubt. We’re constantly testing ourselves. We’re trying to understand our own level of competency; our ability to control our own world; our ability to put ourselves at risk, and then save our own lives. There’s always an element of risk. You’re risking your ego when you play in a chess match; you’re risking your ego, and sometimes your life, when you’re doing certain kinds of flying. But I really don’t do things that endanger my life when I fly.</p> <p>We were in a very nasty boat race, from Sidney to Hobart, where we were in a storm for 14 hours. But I really never felt like I was going to die. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to die, because literally everyone on board got pretty sick. They’re all professional sailors. It was a horrible storm; we had a lot professional sailors who were puking. But I never really felt the same kind of deep fear that I felt as a child.</p> <p><strong>What about fear of failure?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Oh, absolutely. I think most overachievers are driven, not so much by the pursuit of success, but by the fear of failure. Unless failure gets very close and very nearby that fear doesn’t reach profound levels, but it drives us. It drives me to work very hard. It drives me to make sure that my life is orderly, that I’m in control of my company, or in control of the airplane or boat or what-have-you, so that I’m not at risk of failure. Whenever I feel even remotely close to being at risk of failure, I can’t stop working.</p> <p><strong>Your showmanship and your public image are attributes that have received a lot of comment, both negative and positive. How do you deal with critics, both professionally and personally?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: There are an enormous number of people in the world who really want standard answers. They want everyone to wear their hair the same way, everyone to conduct business the same way, everyone to dress the same way, everyone to go to the same church. And if you wander out of these norms, people are highly critical, because this is threatening to them. They’re living their life one way, and they believe that’s the proper way to live their life. If you live your life a different way, and you answer questions differently, that makes them feel very uncomfortable. They say, “Well this person’s different from what I am.” Then they seem to go a little further, and they say, “This person’s different and wrong, and I’m different and right.” So people have been very, very critical, and people will be critical of you if you do things a little bit differently. It takes a certain amount of strength not to succumb to fashion.</p> <p><strong>How do you persevere through it?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I try to think things through. I try to always ask two questions about my personal policies in life. Are they fair, are they morally correct? And do they work? I try to reason things back to first principles. I try to think about things, and come to conclusions and make my own decisions. If someone has a logical criticism and can explain to me why what I’m doing is wrong, and they can convince me, I’ll change. If they have good reasons, I’ll just alter my behavior. I love it when people point out when I’m wrong, and explain to me why I’m wrong, then change. That’s great. I don’t want to be wrong. I would love to be right. If I am wrong, I love it when people stop me. But sometimes people just throw labels at you and throw criticisms around that are not rational, and they call you names. You can’t change behavior that you think is right, just because someone is calling you names, and it’s not the conventional way of behavior.</p> <p><strong>Does it make you feel defensive, or do you just let it go?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: It depends on what they say. Most of the time I let it go. Sometimes people say things that are so hurtful and so offensive — or say things that are just patently untrue — that I feel like I have to defend myself. If someone says something that is factually an error, then I’ll defend myself. If it’s just calling me a random name, then I forget it.</p> <p><strong>How important do you think academic success is to one’s career?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Generally, for most people it’s important. I think academic success is an advantage, but it by no means assures success in business. If you’re an outstanding student you’ll probably be reasonably successful in business, but you might not be among the most successful in business, or even in science. The straight-A students certainly have talent, but maybe it would have been better if they’d flunked a sociology course where the professor was just awful, or got a C in a course when it didn’t make sense to put in the effort. When we’re hiring, we look for people with a strong aptitude in mathematics and physics and music (which is very highly correlated to mathematics), but who can also make judgments as to where they’re going to invest their time.</p> <p>I have a wonderful story about a young man who was near the top of his class at Carnegie-Mellon, and quit the week before he was going to graduate. It was that judgment that he made that set him apart from a lot of the other very top grads that we had hired. He makes his own decisions, and that’s a very useful thing. I think corporations need a combination of people; hopefully all are talented. Some are people that really want to please and are easy to manage; others are driven by a drummer only they can hear. They will constantly question my wisdom, and won’t be the least bit shy about challenging me, and I hope they’ll keep me from making mistakes.</p> <p><strong>What advice would you give to a kid who said, “I really see myself on the cutting edge of this type of technology. How can I prepare?” Is there anything that you would consider mandatory, in education?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: I think learning how to program is a wonderful discipline. Computers are unforgivingly logical, and they’ll do exactly what you tell them. It’s a wonderful training to learn how to program a computer. I would encourage people to take this up. It’s much more important than handwriting.</p> <p><strong>Is there a book you’ve read that particularly affected you?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Lots of books. I just finished Vincent Cronin’s book on Napoleon, a man who definitely needed better PR. Napoleon codified the laws for the first time in Europe. He was constantly limiting kings and other tyrants. He opened the ghettos and stopped religious discrimination. He was an extraordinary man who wrote a lot of laws himself. He was incredibly polite, generous almost to a fault, a remarkable person who was vilified. By who? The kings that he deposed — the kings of England, and the old king of France, and the kings of Prussia, and the Tsar of Russia — were all threatened by this man who was bringing democracy.</p> <p>I think it’s interesting to read this book and look at Napoleon and see how history has treated him. Even the expression “Napoleon complex,” Napoleon was average height for a French person. The idea is just preposterous, treating maybe the most gifted man of the 19th century as some kind of despot. He was a liberator, a law-giver, and a man of incredible gifts. He never considered himself a soldier, he considered himself a politician, though he was probably the greatest general in all history.</p> <p>It’s interesting to read about him for a couple of reasons: to see what one man of modest birth can do with his life, and to see how history can distort the truth entirely. The job of historians is often just that, to distort history, because history is based on fashion. So we’re changing American history all the time, whatever’s politically fashionable. The school districts decide they want to emphasize this person in history, and de-emphasize that person. It’s illuminating to understand that even history is based on fashion. Even morality — popular morality — is based on fashion. Real morality is based on reason, and never make the mistake between the two.</p> <p><strong>What does the American Dream mean to you?</strong></p> <p>Larry Ellison: Let me start by saying that this is a great country. The opportunity in this country is astounding. Everyone who works hard and a maybe little cleverly has the opportunity to make almost anything possible. That’s the American Dream, that anything here is possible. We are not held back. Immigrants come here, and in a single generation do extraordinary things. This country is not perfect, but compare it with every other country in the world, and it’s absolutely fabulous. There’s unlimited opportunity. It requires hard work, it requires a little bit of luck. But still, in America, anything is possible.</p> <p><strong>Thank you so much for talking with us.</strong></p> </div>  </aside>  <div class="read-more__toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#full-interview"><a href="#" class="sans-4 btn">Read full interview</a></div> </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Larry J. Ellison Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>8 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.58552631578947" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599.jpg" data-image-caption="Oracle CEO Larry Ellison with Oracle Team USA after winning the 18th race of the America's Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand, September 24, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)" data-image-copyright="AP6893762757241-1024x599" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599-380x222.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/AP6893762757241-1024x599-760x445.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2297734627832" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison_LawrenceJ.jpg" data-image-caption="Larry Ellison, Co-founder of Oracle Corporation." data-image-copyright="Larry Ellison, Co-founder of Oracle Corporation." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison_LawrenceJ-309x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison_LawrenceJ-618x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.67763157894737" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315.jpg" data-image-caption="BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison brandishes the America's Cup trophy after winning the international yacht race in Valencia, Spain in 2010. (AP Images/Alberto Saiz)" data-image-copyright="wp-Ellison Larry AP100214019315" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315-380x258.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-Ellison-Larry-AP100214019315-760x515.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4022140221402" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune.jpg" data-image-caption="The November 20, 2000 issue of Fortune magazine called Larry Ellison "The Next Richest Man in the World."" data-image-copyright="wp-ellison fortune" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune-271x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-ellison-fortune-542x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.453154875717" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432.jpg" data-image-caption="Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks at an Oracle and Sun Strategy Update event in Redwood City, January 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)" data-image-copyright="Larry Ellison" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432-262x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP100127040432-523x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3793103448276" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013.jpg" data-image-caption="BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison poses next to the center hull of his BOR 90 boat in Valencia, Spain, on Febuary 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)" data-image-copyright="Larry Ellison" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013-275x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-AP10020507013-551x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.75789473684211" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master.jpg" data-image-caption="Larry Ellison and Nikita Kahn attend the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces 2014 Western Region Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 6, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tiffany Rose/WireImage)" data-image-copyright="Friends Of The Israel Defense Forces 2014 Western Region Gala" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master-380x288.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wp-GettyImages-458561866_master-760x576.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66842105263158" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage.jpg" data-image-caption="Academy members Larry Ellison, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and author Tom Clancy in a panel discussion." data-image-copyright="wp-ellison-larry-with-justice-breyer-and-clancy-on-stage" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage-380x254.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WP-Ellison-Larry-with-Justice-Breyer-and-CLANCY-on-stage-760x508.jpg"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Twitter"><i class="icon-icon_twitter-circle"></i></a></li>  <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-email" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever via Email"><i class="icon-icon_email-circle"></i></a></li> </ul> <time class="editorial-article__last-updated sans-6">This page last revised on May 2, 2018</time> <div class="sans-4"><a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/how-to-cite" target="_blank">How to cite this page</a></div> </footer> </div> <div class="container interview-related-achievers"> <hr class="m-t-3 m-b-3"/> <footer class="clearfix small-blocks text-xs-center"> <h3 class="m-b-3 serif-3">If you are inspired by this achiever’s story, you might also enjoy:</h3> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever science-exploration science-exploration analytical curious resourceful help-mankind build-or-create-things " data-year-inducted="2007" data-achiever-name="Berners-Lee"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-timothy-berners-lee/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ber1-009a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ber1-009a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Sir Tim Berners-Lee</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Father of the World Wide Web</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2007</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever business build-or-create-things curious resourceful start-a-business " data-year-inducted="2001" data-achiever-name="Bezos"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeffrey-p-bezos/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/bez0-007a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/bez0-007a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Jeffrey P. 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Berger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-timothy-berners-lee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Tim Berners-Lee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/yogi-berra/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Yogi Berra</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeffrey-p-bezos/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeffrey P. Bezos</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benazir-bhutto/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benazir Bhutto</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/simone-biles/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Simone Biles</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/keith-l-black/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Keith L. Black, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elizabeth-blackburn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-boies-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Boies</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/norman-e-borlaug/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman E. Borlaug, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-c-bradlee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin C. Bradlee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sergey-brin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sergey Brin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carter-j-brown/"><span class="achiever-list-name">J. Carter Brown</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linda-buck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linda Buck, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-burnett/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Burnett</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-h-w-bush/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George H. W. Bush</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/susan-butcher/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Susan Butcher</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-cameron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Cameron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-s-carson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Carter</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Cash</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-j-clinton/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William J. Clinton</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-s-collins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/denton-a-cooley/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Denton A. Cooley, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Dalio</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/olivia-de-havilland/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Olivia de Havilland</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-e-debakey-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael S. Dell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-dennis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Dennis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joan-didion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joan Didion</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-herbert-donald-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Herbert Donald, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-doubilet/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Doubilet</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rita-dove/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rita Dove</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sylvia-earle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elbaradei/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mohamed ElBaradei</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry J. Ellison</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nora-ephron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nora Ephron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/julius-erving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Julius Erving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tony-fadell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tony Fadell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-farmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Farmer, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzanne Farrell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-s-fauci-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lord-norman-foster/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Norman Foster</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/aretha-franklin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Aretha Franklin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leymah Gbowee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/murray-gell-mann-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Ghosn</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-john-gurdon/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir John Gurdon</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Demis Hassabis, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/kazuo-ishiguro/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Kazuo Ishiguro</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/beverly-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Beverly Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dereck-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dereck Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-kagame/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Kagame</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-lederman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Lederman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernst-mayr-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ralph Nader</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-panetta/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Panetta</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. Pauling, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/shimon-peres/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shimon Peres</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/itzhak-perlman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Itzhak Perlman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-david-petraeus/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General David H. Petraeus, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sidney-poitier/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sidney Poitier</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-colin-l-powell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Colin L. Powell, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/harold-prince/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Harold Prince</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/venki-ramakrishnan-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Venki Ramakrishnan, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Martin Rees</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lloyd-richards/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lloyd Richards</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-ride-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonny-rollins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonny Rollins</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-romero/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony Romero</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-rosenquist/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Rosenquist</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pete-rozelle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pete Rozelle</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/bill-russell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bill Russell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/albie-sachs/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Albie Sachs</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/oliver-sacks-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oliver Sacks, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jonas-salk-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jonas Salk, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-sanger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick Sanger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-b-schaller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George B. Schaller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/barry-scheck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Barry Scheck</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-evans-schultes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-h-norman-schwarzkopf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-schwarzman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen A. Schwarzman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/glenn-t-seaborg-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Neil Sheehan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-alan-shepard-jr/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-slim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Slim Helú</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-w-smith/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick W. Smith</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-sondheim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Sondheim</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonia-sotomayor/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonia Sotomayor</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wole-soyinka/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wole Soyinka</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/esperanza-spalding/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Esperanza Spalding</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/martha-stewart/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Martha Stewart</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-james-b-stockdale/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/hilary-swank/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Hilary Swank</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/amy-tan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Amy Tan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dame-kiri-te-kanawa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Kiri Te Kanawa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-teller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Teller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/twyla-tharp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Twyla Tharp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wayne-thiebaud/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wayne Thiebaud</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lt-michael-e-thornton-usn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Michael E. Thornton, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/charles-h-townes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Charles H. Townes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-trimble/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Trimble</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert Edward (Ted) Turner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/desmond-tutu/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-updike/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Updike</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/gore-vidal/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gore Vidal</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/antonio-villaraigosa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Antonio Villaraigosa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lech-walesa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lech Walesa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/herschel-walker/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Herschel Walker</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-d-watson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James D. Watson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/andrew-weil-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Andrew Weil, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leslie-h-wexner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leslie H. Wexner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elie-wiesel/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Elie Wiesel</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190115043007/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward O. 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