NAME: Larry Ellison

AGE: 70 (born Aug. 17, 1944)

CAREER: Started Oracle Corp. with $1,200 of his own money in 1977 and built it into a business software powerhouse.

EDUCATION: Dropped out of college in 1966 after attending on and off for two years.

HOMETOWN: Born in New York, grew up in Chicago.

LIVES IN: Woodside, California.

WEALTH: Ellison is the world's fifth richest person according to Forbes, with a net worth of $51.3 billion.

HOBBIES: Drives fancy cars, flies his own jet, races yachts.

QUOTE: "If fire doesn't destroy you, you're tempered by it."