Larry Ellison and the Art of War

In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko tells Bud Fox to bone up on Sun-tzu’s The Art of War (you remember, “every battle is won before it is ever fought,” crap like that). Sure, this stuff is nice for the films, but it turns out Larry Ellison takes it seriously. I’m not making this up.
First some background. Larry has what you might call a troubled relationship with Hasso Plattner, the top dog at SAP.

Not since SAP AG founder Hasso Plattner dropped his pants in front of Larry Ellison’s support vessel in a 1996 yacht race have tensions between the rival software makers been so high.

Of course, that would depend on what he dropped his pants for. But as the sports announcers say, “these two just don’t like each other.”

A normal relationship between SAP and Redwood City, California-based Oracle these days includes dueling press releases amid claims that stretch reality, SAP and analysts said. During Oracle’s first-quarter conference call Sept. 19, Ellison said SAP was delaying its next major product until 2010 while abandoning its strategy of internal growth helped by small acquisitions.

Oh, no he dint! No he dint!

Ellison’s comments were “a complete misrepresentation” of SAP’s products and strategy, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP said the same day. Only once before, in 2000 when Oracle said it was first in sales of business-management software, had SAP issued a statement responding to Oracle claims.
“Both times the distortion of facts about SAP were so significant we had to clear the record,” SAP spokesman William Wohl said in an interview. SAP said no senior-level executive would talk about the company’s current jousting with Oracle.

But wherever did Larry get this idea from?

The tactics are classic Ellison, famous for his admiration of “The Art of War,” the treatise on battle tactics written by the sixth-century BC Chinese general Sun Tzu.

Ah, yes. It’s coming back to me now.

Bud Fox: All warfare is based on deception. If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight and if not: split and re-evaluate.”

Posted by on October 19th, 2006 at 6:51 am


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.