
Larry Ellison blows off Oracle OpenWorld crowd to watch America’s Cup - alexlitov
http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/09/24/larry-ellison-blows-off-oracle-openworld-crowd-to-watch-americas-cup/
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tlrobinson
If you poured $300,000,000+ into the sport
([http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-
el...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/11/15/larry-ellison-bets-
big-on-americas-cup-racing/)), and your team was on the verge of an epic
comeback from being down 1 to 8, I think you'd probably do the same thing.

If you're into sailing it's a seriously exciting event. I can't really blame
him.

~~~
baddox
But presumably the schedules have been known for a long time, so he could have
not scheduled a keynote to coincide with the race times.

~~~
tlrobinson
See my other comment:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441483)

~~~
baddox
Interesting. I guess it really depends on how much advance notice he gave that
he was canceling the keynote.

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tedivm
I see all of the "I would too" comments, but really it's a slap in the face
for his customers. He owns Oracle, and he's obviously a fan of the America's
Cup competition, perhaps he could have scheduled OpenWorld a bit later?

~~~
tlrobinson
_No one_ expected the America's Cup to continue this long. It was scheduled to
end this past Saturday _at the latest_ , but between the 2 points Oracle was
penalized (meaning they have to win 11 instead of 9) and weather delays it's
extended a lot longer than anyone thought it would.

Today the TV announcers were talking about how their realtors are trying to
kick them out of their temporary apartments.

~~~
CDRdude
I believe the TV announcers said that this is now the longest running
America's Cup since 1899.

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dmazin
Well now you have it. Even the company's CEO couldn't care about something
called "Cloud Marketplace" and the "Oracle Cloud Database Service."

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_delirium
I hope Ellison gets so infatuated with other things that he runs his company
into the ground. :)

~~~
hyperbovine
Haters gonna hate...

~~~
_delirium
Disliking Ellison is a legitimate sport, one with a larger American following
than sailing (excluding temporary recent fans).

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mmgutz
Biggest come back ever if they win. They were down 8-1! He's put so much money
into it. I would too!

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jessaustin
Does anything important/interesting ever happen at "Oracle OpenWorld"? If so,
does it require Ellison's presence?

~~~
veemjeem
I doubt it. People who go to JavaOne/OpenWorld are going for the BoF or
technical sessions, not to hear some CEO speak about their strategy. Usually
when I go, I skip those keynotes because they're mostly devoid of any useful
information.

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Mikeb85
I don't even like Larry Ellison, but I would do the same thing. Epic America's
Cup, and he has invested so much into it...

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ianstallings
I'm no fan of Ellison or Oracle but IMHO he's done so much for that company, I
have a hard time chiding him for taking a little time off. Very poor timing
I'll admit, but I wouldn't be holding my breath at an Oracle event just to
hear Ellison speak on a product.

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zeckalpha
I would, too.

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chris_wot
And nothing of value was lost.

