(Editor's Note: We got this as an email forward. Therefore, we cannot
verify the accuracy of this info. We think it is fake.)
Speech by Larry Ellison CEO of Oracle. What follows is a transcript of the
speech delivered by Larry Ellison, CEO of ORACLE (2nd Richest Man on the Planet)
at the Yale University last month:
"Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this type
of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me. Please, take a good
look around you. Look at the classmate on your left. Look at the classmate on
your right. Now, consider this:
Five years from now, 10 years from now, even 30 thirty years from now, odds
are the person on your left is going to be a loser. The person on your right,
meanwhile, will also be a loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect?
Loser. Loserhood. Loser Cum Laude.
"In fact, as I look out before me today, I don't see a thousand hopes
fora bright tomorrow. I don't see a thousand future leaders in a thousand
industries. I see a thousand losers.
"You're upset. That's understandable. After all, how can I, Lawrence
'Larry' Ellison, college dropout, have the audacity to spout such heresy to the
graduating class of one of the nation's most prestigious institutions?
I'll tell you why. Because I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, second
richest man on the planet, am a college dropout, and you are not.
"Because Bill Gates, richest man on the planet-for now, anyway is a
college dropout, and you are not.
"Because Paul Allen, the third richest man on the planet, dropped out of
college, and you did not.
"And for good measure, because Michael Dell, No. 9 on the list and
moving up fast, is a college dropout, and you, yet again, are not."
"Hmm... you're very upset. That's understandable. So let me stroke your
egos for a moment by pointing out, quite sincerely, that your diplomas were not
attained in vain. Most of you, I imagine, have spent four to five years here,
and in many ways what you've learned and endured will serve you well in the
years ahead. You've established good work habits. You've established a network
of people that will help you down the road. And you've established what will be
lifelong relationships with the word 'therapy.' All that of is good. For in
truth, you will need that network. You will need those strong work habits. You
will need that therapy.
"You will need them because you didn't drop out, and so you will never
be among the richest people in the world. Oh sure, you may, perhaps, work your
way up to No. 10 or No. 11, like Steve Ballmer. But then, I don't have to tell
you who he really works for, do I? And for the record, he dropped out of grad
school. Bit of a late bloomer.
"Finally, I realize that many of you, and hopefully by now most of you,
are wondering, 'Is there anything I can do? Is there any hope for me at all?'
Actually, no. It's too late. You've absorbed too much, think you know too
much. You're not 19 anymore. You have a built-in cap, and I'm not referring to
the mortar boards on your heads."
"Hmm... you're really very upset. That's understandable. So perhaps this
would be a good time to bring up the silver lining. Not for you, Class of '00.
You are a write-off, so I'll let you slink off to your pathetic
$200,000-a-year jobs, where your checks will be signed by former classmates who
dropped out two years ago."
"Instead, I want to give hope to any underclassmen here today. I say to
you, and I can't stress this enough: leave. Pack your things and your ideas and
don't come back. Drop out. Start up. "For I can tell you that a cap and
gown will keep you down just as surely as these security guards dragging me off
this stage are keeping me down..."
