All of you have probably read quite a bit about the world’s wealthiest man—Bill Gates. But some of you are probably not nearly as familiar with Bill Gates’s main rival and world’s seventh wealthiest man—former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Ellison recently retired as CEO but is still active as the chair of Oracle’s board of directors. Unlike Gates, who is relatively reserved, Ellison is known for his extravagant lifestyle and boastful interviews. The rivalry between Ellison and Gates is legendary, but not quite as much is known about Ellison’s leadership style. He has been described as a “jerk,” and his managerial style has been described as “take no prisoners.” While he is unquestionably a very strong leader, he has also been criticized for spending a lot of time playing golf while leaving many leadership duties to his subordinates.

Read up on leadership traits, leadership behaviors, and leadership styles in the required background materials. Then read up on Larry Ellison and find as much as you can about his personality and leadership style. Finally, try to apply what you’ve read in the required background materials about leadership traits, behaviors, and styles to what you found out about Larry Ellison.

1. How would you describe Ellison’s personality and leadership traits? Refer to the specific leadership traits discussed in Hiriyappa (2009) or Bauer and Erdogan (2012).

2. Would you describe Ellison’s behavior as being task-oriented, or people/relationship-oriented? Refer to Hiriyappa (2009) and Bauer and Erdogan (2012).

3. How would you describe Ellison’s leadership style?