Julian Crowley
It’s not all rosy at the top. Larry Ellison, the head of Oracle and at one time the second richest man in the world, has no shame about his covert monitoring of rival, Microsoft chief and one-time richest man in the world, Bill Gates. In fact, Ellison has no regrets about his 2000 efforts to expose Microsoft’s funding of various public interest groups.
His hired detective’s efforts are said to have involved bribing the cleaning staff at Microsoft’s Washington office in order to lay their hands on documents. Microsoft spokespeople referred to the admission as a “black eye for Oracle” – and with the levels of animosity between the two chiefs, it’s surprising there were no actual black eyes.
