劳伦斯·埃里森是甲骨文公司的创始人和CEO。根据2009年最新《福布斯》杂志的统计，他的个人资产高达225亿美元，居世界第4位。他的公司专注于企业软件，因此是SAP的直接竞争者。埃里森本人非常活泼，在商业界里有“不寻常”的商人的名声。迈克·威尔逊将他的埃里森的传记定名为《上帝与埃里森之间的区别》。短时间里他甚至曾经仅次于比尔·盖茨为世界上第二富人。
About Ellison
关于埃里森
Lawrence Joseph “Larry” Ellison is an American business magnate， co－founder and chief executive officer of Oracle Corporation， a major enterprise software company。 As of 2011 he is the fifth richest person in the world， with a personal wealth of ＄39。5 billion。
Larry Ellison was born in New York City to Florence Spellman， an unwed 19－year－old。 Ellison graduated from Eugene Field Elementary School on Chicago’s north side in January， 1958 and attended Sullivan High School at least through the fall of 1959 before moving to South Shore。
Ellison and his partners won a two－year contract to build a relational database management system （RDBMS） for the CIA。 The project’s code name： Oracle。 They finished the project a year ahead of schedule and used the extra time to develop their system for commercial applications。 They named their commercial RDBMS Oracle as well。 In 1980， Ellison’s company had only eight employees， and revenues were less than ＄1 million， but the following year， IBM itself adopted Oracle for its mainframe systems， and Oracle’s sales doubled every year for the next seven years。 The million dollar company was becoming a billion dollar company。 Ellison renamed the company Oracle Corporation， for its best－selling product。
Today， Lawrence Ellison has his principal home in Woodside， California。 He served as President of Oracle from 1978 to 1996， and undertook two stints as Chairman of the Board， from 1990 to 1992， and again from 1995 to 2004。 Since its founding， he has been Oracle’s only Chief Executive Officer。
他的公司Oracle专注于关系数据库和企业软件等，现为世界上仅次于微软的第二大的软件公司，是SAP的直接竞争者，自2010年甲骨文成功收购Sun公司以来，甲骨文整合了java和Sun的硬件，正迈向“软硬”结合的发展之路，2011年埃里森甚至公开表示甲骨文将公开与IBM和惠普进行硬件市场的竞争。
埃里森在32岁以前还一事无成，读了三个大学，没得到一个学位文凭，换了十几家公司，老婆也离他而去，开始创业时只有1200美元，却使得Oracle公司连续十二年销售额每年翻一番，成为世界上第二大的软件公司，他拥有的Oracle是世界上最大的数据库软件公司。埃里森以不择手段的经营手腕和强力甚至欺骗的市场竞争，击败了一个又一个的对手，埃里森要打倒的最后一个目标就是软件帝国之王微软的比尔·盖茨。
Key words ＆ Sentences
关键词句全知道
I Lawrence “Larry” Ellison， second richest man on the planet， am college dropout。
我，埃里森，这个行星上第二富有的人，是个辍学学生。
Today， Lawrence Ellison has his principal home in Woodside， California。
现在，劳伦斯·埃里森将其家安置在加利福尼亚州的伍德赛德。
Ellison was a bright but inattentive student。
埃里森是一个聪明但是不专心的学生。
Lawrence Ellison moved to northern California permanently。
埃里森永久迁往了北加利福尼亚。
Lawrence Ellison attended the University of Chicago for one term， where he first encountered computer design。
埃里森在芝加哥大学学了一学期，并在那里第一次接触到了电脑设计。
Ellison worked for Ampex Corporation。
埃里森为安培公司工作。
Ellison was inspired by the paper written by Edgar F。 Codd。
埃里森受到埃德加·科德的论文的启发。
Ellison earned a total compensation of ＄61，180，524。
埃里森得到了总额为61，180，524美元的补偿。
In 2006， Forbes ranked Ellison as the richest Californian。
2006年，埃里森在福布斯上被列为最富有的加利福尼亚人。
Ellison has been married and divorced four times。
埃里森离了四次婚。
Ellison is a licensed pilot and has owned several aircraft。
埃里森是一个合格的飞行员，并拥有几架飞机。
Ellison purchased more than 12 properties in Malibu， California。
埃里森在加利福尼亚买了超过12个的不动资产。
Ellison suffered a series of personal mishaps。
埃里森遭受了一系列个人事故。
Ellison delegated the management side of the business to professionals。
埃里森将公司的管理权交给专业人士。
In 1980， Ellison’s company had only eight employees。
1980年，埃里森的公司只有8个人。
Ellison and his partners won a two－year contract。
埃里森和他的合伙人赢得了两年的合同。
Ellison participated in building the first IBM－compatible mainframe system。
埃利森参加建设了第一台IBM兼容的主机系统。
Ellison bounced from job to job。
埃利森从一个工作跳到另一个工作。
Ellison took this skill with him to Berkeley。
埃利森将他的技术带到伯克利。
Let’s Talk！
开始交流吧！
Mike： Have you heard Oracle·
麦克：你听说过甲骨文吗·
Daisy： I know it’s a famous company， I don’t know what it does。
黛西：我知道它是个很出名的公司，但我不知道它是做什么的。
Mike： It focuses on database technique。
麦克：他主要从事数据库技术。
Daisy： That’s related to your major。
黛西：那和你的专业相关啊。
Mike： Yes， I wish I could get a job there when I graduate。
麦克：是的，我希望我毕业后能在那找份工作。
Daisy： Why do you like it so much·
黛西：你为什么这么喜欢它·
Mike： Because I really admire its founder Ellison。
麦克：因为我非常崇拜它的创立者埃里森。
Daisy： What’s his story·
黛西：他有什么样的故事·
Mike： He is a school dropout， and he is now one of the richest person in the world。
麦克：他是个辍学学生，然而现在他是世界上最富有的人之一。
Daisy： Why does these great businessmen are all school dropouts， so is Bill Gates。
黛西：为什么这些伟大的商人都是辍学生，比尔盖茨也是。
Mike： They do not go the way people usually go。
麦克：他们不走人们通常会走的路。
Daisy： Then we do not have an hope。
黛西：那么我们就没有希望了。
Mike： We can work for them。
麦克：我们可以给他们打工。
Daisy： That’s not fair。
黛西：那不公平。
Mike： Or you can start your own company。
麦克：或者你可以创立自己的公司。
Daisy： I do not have the courage。
黛西：我没有这个勇气。
Sam Walton
山姆·沃尔顿
你可能不知道沃尔顿，但你一定知道沃尔玛。相比较于微软的比尔·盖茨在短时间致富、创造巨大影响力的模式，美国Wal－Mart的创始人沃尔顿所代表的正是传统，一步一个脚印，长时间积累才得以创造出辉煌宏伟局面。比起新经济所隐含的大起大落的风险，Wal－Mart不仅执行传统经营理念与模式，同时也不断引领、革新旧经济价值观。
About Walton
关于沃尔顿
Samuel Moore “Sam” Walton was a businessman and entrepreneur born in Kingfisher， Oklahoma best known for founding the retailers Wal－Mart and Sam’s Club。
Sam Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy “Nannie” Lee （née Lawrence） near Kingfisher， Oklahoma on March 29， 1918。 There， he lived with his parents on their farm until 1923。 Sam’s father decided farming did not generate enough income on which to raise a family， so he decided to go back to a previous profession of a mortgage man。 He and his family （now with another son， James， born in 1921） moved from Oklahoma to Chesterfield， Missouri。 There they moved from one small town to another for several years。 While attending eighth grade in Shelbina， Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state’s history。 In adult life， Walton became a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America。