Oracle

Oracle sells database software, cloud services and business applications. Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates founded it in 1977 under the name Software Development Laboratories. The name changed after its first product, the Oracle Database.

That relational database became standard in banks, governments and large companies. Oracle later added enterprise applications for finance, human resources and supply chain, often sold under the Fusion and NetSuite names. It also owns Java, a programming language used widely in business software.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure rents computing and storage to customers and competes with larger cloud providers. The company bought Sun Microsystems in 2010, which brought server hardware and the MySQL database under its control. Headquarters moved to Austin, Texas, from California. Larry Ellison is chairman and chief technology officer, and he is among the wealthiest people in the world. Oracle bought Cerner in 2022, which gave it a large position in hospital health records. Its customers include banks, retailers, utilities and public agencies.