Oracle's Ellison donating $122m to charities and attorneys

Dot-bomb fallout

By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 23rd November 2005 00:17 GMT

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Uber-loaded chief executive Larry Ellison is reportedly paying $122m to settle an insider trading case, brought following a drop in Oracle's stock price in 2001.

Oracle's chief executive has agreed to pay $100m to charities and a further $22m to attorneys who prosecuted Ellison for alleged stock trading abuses.

The civil case was brought by attorneys on behalf of company shareholders after Ellison earned $900m selling shares in the company just before the stock price tumbled 51 per cent in 2001. Like many tech companies, Oracle was a victim of the deflating dot-com bubble.

Ellison, the world's ninth richest person worth $18.4bn, denied any wrongdoing and tentatively agreed to settle the suite in September. However, Ellison was unwilling to pay the attorney's fees in case it indicated acceptance of wrongdoing, and the deal was re-negotiated.

US trial judge John Schwartz declined to pass the costs onto Oracle's shareholders, and Ellison agreed to the $22m payment to avoid the distraction and risk of going to court. The fees will be divided between 13 law firms, although Ellison has three months to nominate the recipient charities and five years to pay.

Oracle was unavailable for comment.®

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