The Second-Richest Man in the World Told Graduating Yale Students They Were

Subject: Graduation speech

This is true

I thought you would get a kick out of this speech that Larry Ellison (Oracle
CEO) gave at Yale University to the Graduating class of 2000. What follows is
a transcript of the speech delivered by Ellison at 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 for a
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 #10 or #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 mortarboards 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 dow...

(At this point The Oracle CEO was ushered off stage.)