5 ms·

Larry Ellison blows off Oracle OpenWorld crowd to watch America’s Cup

44 points by alexlitov 13y ago

zeckalpha 13y ago
I would, too.
mmgutz 13y ago
Biggest come back ever if they win. They were down 8-1! He's put so much money into it. I would too!
tedivm 13y ago
I see all of the "I would too" comments, but really it's a slap in the face for his customers. He owns Oracle, and he's obviously a fan of the America's Cup competition, perhaps he could have scheduled OpenWorld a bit later?
- jacquesc 13y ago
  I'm sure all his customers understand, and they should be blowing off OpenWorld too for the short walk over to watch the races live.
  - jerven 13y ago
    Half his customers are (me included at one point ;)
    - chris_wot 13y ago
      Heck, if you migrated to Postgres you'd never have to attend another OpenWorld again!
      - jerven 13y ago
        Heck the moment Postgres supports SPARQL I might ;) also the moment I no longer need to vacuum would be a requirement. Actually postgres is the first choice, we chose Oracle when we need specific features not because we like spending money ;)
- tlrobinson 13y ago
  No one expected the America's Cup to continue this long. It was scheduled to end this past Saturday at the latest, but between the 2 points Oracle was penalized (meaning they have to win 11 instead of 9) and weather delays it's extended a lot longer than anyone thought it would. Today the TV announcers were talking about how their realtors are trying to kick them out of their temporary apartments.
  - CDRdude 13y ago
    I believe the TV announcers said that this is now the longest running America's Cup since 1899.
- redthrowaway 13y ago
  Perhaps he could have scheduled OpenWorld later, but he's far more than a simple fan. Oracle has had a boat in the race since 2003 and Larry Ellison personally has been heavily involved in Oracle Racing in that time, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the team. It's far more than a hobby for him.
- veemjeem 13y ago
  How is it a slap in the face? I doubt his one hour keynote would offer much information anyway.
tlrobinson 13y ago
If you poured $300,000,000+ into the sport (http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-ellison-bets-big-on-americas-cup-racing/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-el...), and your team was on the verge of an epic comeback from being down 1 to 8, I think you'd probably do the same thing. If you're into sailing it's a seriously exciting event. I can't really blame him.
- jordanthoms 13y ago
  And if you're a new zealander, this is an extremely painful event!
  - chad_oliver 13y ago
    I'm pretty sure they planned it all, just to taunt us. We only need one win.
  - Raticide 13y ago
    It's not over yet!
- baddox 13y ago
  But presumably the schedules have been known for a long time, so he could have not scheduled a keynote to coincide with the race times.
  - zeckalpha 13y ago
    Nope. The cup is in "overtime".
  - tlrobinson 13y ago
    See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483
    - baddox 13y ago
      Interesting. I guess it really depends on how much advance notice he gave that he was canceling the keynote.
ianstallings 13y ago
I'm no fan of Ellison or Oracle but IMHO he's done so much for that company, I have a hard time chiding him for taking a little time off. Very poor timing I'll admit, but I wouldn't be holding my breath at an Oracle event just to hear Ellison speak on a product.
_delirium 13y ago
I hope Ellison gets so infatuated with other things that he runs his company into the ground. :)
- hyperbovine 13y ago
  Haters gonna hate...
  - _delirium 13y ago
    Disliking Ellison is a legitimate sport, one with a larger American following than sailing (excluding temporary recent fans).
jessaustin 13y ago
Does anything important/interesting ever happen at "Oracle OpenWorld"? If so, does it require Ellison's presence?
- veemjeem 13y ago
  I doubt it. People who go to JavaOne/OpenWorld are going for the BoF or technical sessions, not to hear some CEO speak about their strategy. Usually when I go, I skip those keynotes because they're mostly devoid of any useful information.
dmazin 13y ago
Well now you have it. Even the company's CEO couldn't care about something called "Cloud Marketplace" and the "Oracle Cloud Database Service."
Mikeb85 13y ago
I don't even like Larry Ellison, but I would do the same thing. Epic America's Cup, and he has invested so much into it...
chris_wot 13y ago
And nothing of value was lost.

44 points by alexlitov 13y ago

zeckalpha 13y ago

I would, too.

mmgutz 13y ago

Biggest come back ever if they win. They were down 8-1! He's put so much money into it. I would too!

tedivm 13y ago

I see all of the "I would too" comments, but really it's a slap in the face for his customers. He owns Oracle, and he's obviously a fan of the America's Cup competition, perhaps he could have scheduled OpenWorld a bit later?

jacquesc 13y ago
I'm sure all his customers understand, and they should be blowing off OpenWorld too for the short walk over to watch the races live.
- jerven 13y ago
  Half his customers are (me included at one point ;)
  - chris_wot 13y ago
    Heck, if you migrated to Postgres you'd never have to attend another OpenWorld again!
    - jerven 13y ago
      Heck the moment Postgres supports SPARQL I might ;) also the moment I no longer need to vacuum would be a requirement. Actually postgres is the first choice, we chose Oracle when we need specific features not because we like spending money ;)
tlrobinson 13y ago
No one expected the America's Cup to continue this long. It was scheduled to end this past Saturday at the latest, but between the 2 points Oracle was penalized (meaning they have to win 11 instead of 9) and weather delays it's extended a lot longer than anyone thought it would. Today the TV announcers were talking about how their realtors are trying to kick them out of their temporary apartments.
- CDRdude 13y ago
  I believe the TV announcers said that this is now the longest running America's Cup since 1899.
redthrowaway 13y ago
Perhaps he could have scheduled OpenWorld later, but he's far more than a simple fan. Oracle has had a boat in the race since 2003 and Larry Ellison personally has been heavily involved in Oracle Racing in that time, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the team. It's far more than a hobby for him.
veemjeem 13y ago
How is it a slap in the face? I doubt his one hour keynote would offer much information anyway.

tlrobinson 13y ago

If you poured $300,000,000+ into the sport (http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-ellison-bets-big-on-americas-cup-racing/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-el...), and your team was on the verge of an epic comeback from being down 1 to 8, I think you'd probably do the same thing. If you're into sailing it's a seriously exciting event. I can't really blame him.

jordanthoms 13y ago
And if you're a new zealander, this is an extremely painful event!
- chad_oliver 13y ago
  I'm pretty sure they planned it all, just to taunt us. We only need one win.
- Raticide 13y ago
  It's not over yet!
baddox 13y ago
But presumably the schedules have been known for a long time, so he could have not scheduled a keynote to coincide with the race times.
- zeckalpha 13y ago
  Nope. The cup is in "overtime".
- tlrobinson 13y ago
  See my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483
  - baddox 13y ago
    Interesting. I guess it really depends on how much advance notice he gave that he was canceling the keynote.

ianstallings 13y ago

I'm no fan of Ellison or Oracle but IMHO he's done so much for that company, I have a hard time chiding him for taking a little time off. Very poor timing I'll admit, but I wouldn't be holding my breath at an Oracle event just to hear Ellison speak on a product.

_delirium 13y ago

I hope Ellison gets so infatuated with other things that he runs his company into the ground. :)

hyperbovine 13y ago
Haters gonna hate...
- _delirium 13y ago
  Disliking Ellison is a legitimate sport, one with a larger American following than sailing (excluding temporary recent fans).

jessaustin 13y ago

Does anything important/interesting ever happen at "Oracle OpenWorld"? If so, does it require Ellison's presence?

veemjeem 13y ago
I doubt it. People who go to JavaOne/OpenWorld are going for the BoF or technical sessions, not to hear some CEO speak about their strategy. Usually when I go, I skip those keynotes because they're mostly devoid of any useful information.

dmazin 13y ago

Well now you have it. Even the company's CEO couldn't care about something called "Cloud Marketplace" and the "Oracle Cloud Database Service."

Mikeb85 13y ago

I don't even like Larry Ellison, but I would do the same thing. Epic America's Cup, and he has invested so much into it...

chris_wot 13y ago

And nothing of value was lost.