Larry Ellison Cancels Plan to Sell $7.5 Billion in Oracle Stock
Key Takeaways
- •Larry Ellison canceled his plan to sell up to 50 million Oracle shares one day after its disclosure, with Oracle stating that no shares were sold and that he has no current intention to sell his stock.
- •The trading plan, adopted June 22 and scheduled to run through October 24, had valued the shares at approximately $8.75 billion, a figure that fell to around $7.5 billion after Oracle's stock declined about 16%.
- •Ellison, who controls roughly 40% of Oracle, has rarely sold company stock, with no single transaction exceeding 25,000 shares since the start of this century, according to FactSet.
- •Oracle raised its estimated workforce reduction costs to $2.8 billion, a $700 million increase, while heavy AI infrastructure spending has narrowed gross margins and contributed to a roughly 20% decline in the stock this year.
- •Despite margin pressures, Oracle's most recent earnings exceeded analyst estimates, with cloud infrastructure revenue increasing 121% year over year.
Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison has canceled a plan to sell up to 50 million shares of Oracle (ORCL), just one day after the proposed transaction was publicly disclosed in a regulatory filing.
Oracle said in a statement that no shares were sold under the plan and that Ellison currently has no intention of selling any of his Oracle stock.
The trading plan was adopted on June 22 and was scheduled to remain in effect through October 24. When it was adopted, the 50 million shares were worth approximately $8.75 billion. Oracle’s stock has since fallen about 16%, reducing the value of the stake to roughly $7.5 billion.
Ellison, 82, controls approximately 40% of Oracle. Even if the entire planned sale had been completed, he would still have held about 1.1 billion shares in the company.
The proposed sale drew attention because Ellison has rarely sold Oracle stock in recent decades. According to FactSet, he has not sold more than 25,000 Oracle shares in a single transaction since the beginning of this century.
Oracle’s stock fell 1.74% on Friday, the day the original plan was disclosed, after the company reported narrowing gross margins. The results raised concerns among investors as Oracle continues to increase spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
AI Spending and Job Cuts Weigh on Oracle
Oracle has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure, with customers including OpenAI. The spending has increased the company’s debt and contributed to investor concerns about rising costs.
As part of an effort to reduce expenses, Oracle is cutting thousands of jobs. The company disclosed on Friday that it now expects total costs related to the workforce reduction to reach $2.8 billion, an increase of $700 million from its earlier estimate.
Oracle’s gross margins have narrowed as its capital expenditures related to AI have increased. Those concerns have helped push the company’s stock down roughly 20% this year.
Despite the pressure on margins and expenses, Oracle’s most recent earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates. Cloud infrastructure revenue increased 121% year over year, helping offset some of the concerns surrounding the company’s spending and debt.
The combination of faster cloud growth and higher AI-related costs puts future attention on whether revenue growth can continue alongside efforts to manage margins, debt, and workforce expenses. Oracle’s subsequent earnings disclosures will provide additional data on those areas.
Ellison’s Financial Ties Beyond Oracle
Ellison has also used his personal wealth to support ventures outside Oracle. He helped finance the 2025 merger between Skydance, the production company founded by his son David Ellison, and Paramount.
Ellison has also been linked to a proposed $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance Corp.
The cancellation of the Oracle share-sale plan came after a difficult week for the stock. Oracle shares closed down 1.74% on Friday after the earnings report showed shrinking gross margins.
Source: CoinCentral
