Wit still bites, but Ellison's big speech not what it was

Larry Ellison

Oracle users at the computer giant's annual talkfest had a 24m-long reminder that company founder Larry Ellison loves boats.

He plonked USA-76 - the yacht beaten by Alinghi in the 2002-03 Louis Vuitton final in Auckland - in the main foyer of the San Francisco convention centre, where 35,000 people attended Oracle OpenWorld last week.

Ellison made his first appearance at the event on day three, Wednesday. He declared that despite Oracle BMW Racing's defeat in Auckland, he believed his team, led by Chris Dickson, had a "better than even" chance of winning the America's Cup this time round.

He conceded, however, that Alinghi and Team New Zealand would be strong competition.

Not surprisingly, he also talked about computing.

Ellison repeated key soothing messages dished out by Oracle president Charles Phillips and other top executives over the previous two days - the company continues to successfully integrate recent acquisition PeopleSoft and has a bold vision for the integration of another major purchase announced the week before, Siebel. Ellison's address is the traditional highlight of OpenWorld, but despite the usual hype, queues for seats and pumping rock music before his arrival on stage, many in the crowd left feeling this year's speech wasn't the billionaire's best effort.

Perhaps Oracle's founder is jaded by a frantic year of takeovers, including the hostile PeopleSoft acquisition that left many customers nervous about how they will be treated as the company merges the two businesses and their offerings. But while it may not have been his strongest effort, the speech still resonated with plenty of caustic Ellison wit, much of it aimed at arch-rival Microsoft.

Digging into his suit pocket to retrieve his glasses, Ellison quipped that Microsoft didn't supply a big enough font these days to allow him to read his notes.

He also took shots at the company's record on security, but added: "I'm not here to make fun of Microsoft.

"Well, not a lot."

After promising a 15-minute talk then pacing the stage for 35 minutes, Ellison said: "Feel free to ask any question, as long as it's about sailing."

One admirer defied that order to ask what company the "visionary" Ellison would buy next.

He was told there were none in mind, and "this visionary is living very much in the present".