Oracle’s CEO cancels plans to offload $7.5 billion in Oracle stock merely 24 hours after disclosing it.
Larry Ellison just gave Wall Street severe whiplash.
SEC filings revealed on Friday that Oracle’s co-founder planned to sell 50 million shares worth $7.5 billion. But Oracle issued a brief update on Saturday, almost sheepishly: the sale is completely off.
What happened in those 24 hours?
Someone at Oracle clearly forgot to check the calendar. European regulators raised red flags almost immediately, pointing out that unloading massive blocks of stock right before an earnings report breaches mandatory quiet-period rules.
Bad timing made bad rules even worse.
Oracle is spending tens of billions to build AI data centers for OpenAI and Meta. That massive capital burn has pushed company debt higher, triggering a $2.8 billion in restructuring costs, and dragging the stock down more than 20% this year. And the founder cashing out $7.5 billion while telling shareholders to trust the AI process sends a terrible message.
It was an embarrassing operational blunder, but canceling the sale was the smartest move Ellison could make.
By pulling those shares back, Ellison leaves over 40% of his net worth tied directly to Oracle’s balance sheet. It instantly removes a massive cloud of selling pressure from the market and proves he still has skin in the game. Ellison made a sloppy mistake on Friday, but he owned it and fixed it before Monday morning.
