Latest news with #US500
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
The college dropout in Trump's inner circle who is now the second-richest person in the world
With two partners, Ellison founded what eventually became Oracle in 1977. The company sold shares in an initial public offering on March 12, 1986, a day before Microsoft's IPO. He stepped down as Oracle's chief executive officer in September 2014, taking on the titles of chairman and chief technology officer. Why is Oracle having a moment right now? Oracle has invested billions of dollars over the past few years to become a provider of cloud infrastructure — offering computing power and storage over the internet. That has made the company a beneficiary of the market's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence as start-ups and other AI firms seek more capacity. Oracle's share price has nearly tripled since ChatGPT's public release in November 2022. The stock jumped 5.7 per cent on July 15 after the US government eased some Biden-era restrictions, allowing chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to export certain semiconductors to China. The decision was expected to ease tensions in the global chip supply chain, which bodes well for Oracle, a massive buyer of AI chips for its data centres. Loading The latest gain came during a period of explosive growth for the company, which has seen its shares surge more than 90 per cent since late April due to strong revenues and key AI partnerships. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that OpenAI has agreed to rent an unprecedented sum of computing power from Oracle as it builds increasingly powerful AI tools. Ellison also has benefited from a close relationship with US President Donald Trump. Ellison has been a Trump supporter and Republican donor for years, and since retaking office in January Trump has rewarded Ellison by elevating Oracle on multiple occasions. Ellison and Oracle are part of a $US500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate that Trump first touted in January. Trump has also expressed support for Oracle to acquire a partial stake in TikTok's US business, which would give Oracle a share of one of the world's most popular consumer products. Oracle's bid for the popular video app owned by China's ByteDance, which includes several other potential investors, has been endorsed by Trump, but it hasn't been approved by leaders in Beijing. What other businesses does Ellison own? He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on luxury real estate in the past decade, including properties in Malibu and Rancho Mirage, California; the Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island; and an estate in the San Francisco Bay Area modelled on 16th-century Japanese feudal architecture. Ellison has been a major shareholder of Tesla and owned about 1.5 per cent of the company as of the carmaker's 2022 proxy statement. He stepped down from Tesla's board of directors in June 2022 and his stake hasn't been disclosed in subsequent proxies. He also was one of the largest outside backers of Musk's bid to purchase Twitter. What are Ellison's interests outside of tech? The software mogul has a history of lavish living. In a 2002 email to the tech founder, an accountant suggested that Ellison 'budget and plan' because his spending habits were becoming difficult to sustain, according to a January 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article. Loading Ellison finances his lifestyle using debt and the proceeds from Oracle stock sales and dividends, which have amounted to more than $US12 billion since 2003, according to an analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg. The avid sailor partially financed the BMW Oracle Racing team, which won the America's Cup in February 2010. He sold his stake in Rising Sun, a 138-metre megayacht, to billionaire David Geffen later that year. His Oracle Team USA defended the America's Cup in October 2013, defeating a team from New Zealand. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to give away at least 95 per cent of his wealth to charitable causes. How has Ellison been involved in Hawaii? Ellison's love for Hawaii, which began in his childhood, led to his $US300 million purchase of 98 per cent of the island of Lanai in 2012. There, he has partnered with David Agus – a doctor who treated Ellison's late best friend, Steve Jobs – to create Sensei, a chain of luxury wellness resorts focused on longevity. His personal connections have brought high-profile visitors including Musk, Tom Cruise and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the once-sleepy island. Ellison's supporters have said his investments have helped revitalise Lanai, but there have been complaints that the island has become more hospitable to the super-rich while squeezing out families that have lived there for generations.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The college dropout who is now the second-richest person in the world
With two partners, Ellison founded what eventually became Oracle in 1977. The company sold shares in an initial public offering on March 12, 1986, a day before Microsoft's IPO. He stepped down as Oracle's chief executive officer in September 2014, taking on the titles of chairman and chief technology officer. Why is Oracle having a moment right now? Oracle has invested billions of dollars over the past few years to become a provider of cloud infrastructure — offering computing power and storage over the internet. That has made the company a beneficiary of the market's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence as startups and other AI firms seek more capacity. Oracle's share price has nearly tripled since ChatGPT's public release in November 2022. The stock jumped 5.7 per cent on July 15 after the US government eased some Biden-era restrictions, allowing chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to export certain semiconductors to China. The decision was expected to ease tensions in the global chip supply chain, which bodes well for Oracle, a massive buyer of AI chips for its data centres. Loading The latest gain came during a period of explosive growth for the company, which has seen its shares surge more than 90 per cent since late April due to strong revenues and key AI partnerships. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that OpenAI has agreed to rent an unprecedented sum of computing power from Oracle as it builds increasingly powerful AI tools. Ellison also has benefited from a close relationship with President Donald Trump. Ellison has been a Trump supporter and Republican donor for years, and since retaking office in January Trump has rewarded Ellison by elevating Oracle on multiple occasions. Ellison and Oracle are part of a $US500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate that Trump first touted in January. Trump has also expressed support for Oracle to acquire a partial stake in TikTok's US business, which would give Oracle a share of one of the world's most popular consumer products. Oracle's bid for the popular video app owned by China's ByteDance, which includes several other potential investors, has been endorsed by Trump, but it hasn't been approved by leaders in Beijing. What other businesses does Ellison own? He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on luxury real estate in the past decade, including properties in Malibu and Rancho Mirage, California; the Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island; and an estate in the San Francisco Bay Area modelled on 16th century Japanese feudal architecture. Ellison has been a major shareholder of Tesla and owned about 1.5 per cent of the company as of the carmaker's 2022 proxy statement. He stepped down from Tesla's board of directors in June 2022 and his stake hasn't been disclosed in subsequent proxies. He also was one of the largest outside backers of Musk's bid to purchase Twitter. What are Ellison's interests outside of tech? The software mogul has a history of lavish living. In a 2002 email to the tech founder, an accountant suggested that Ellison 'budget and plan' because his spending habits were becoming difficult to sustain, according to a January 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article. Ellison finances his lifestyle using debt and the proceeds from Oracle stock sales and dividends, which have amounted to more than $US12 billion since 2003, according to an analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg. The avid sailor partially financed the BMW Oracle Racing team, which won the America's Cup in February 2010. He sold his stake in Rising Sun, a 138-meter megayacht, to billionaire David Geffen later that year. His Oracle Team USA defended the America's Cup in October 2013, defeating a team from New Zealand. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to give away at least 95 per cent of his wealth to charitable causes. How has Ellison been involved in Hawaii? Loading Ellison's love for Hawaii, which began in his childhood, led to his $US300 million purchase of 98 per cent of the island of Lanai in 2012. There, he has partnered with David Agus — a doctor who treated Ellison's late best friend, Steve Jobs — to create Sensei, a chain of luxury wellness resorts focused on longevity. His personal connections have brought high-profile visitors including Musk, Tom Cruise and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the once-sleepy island.
The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
The college dropout who is now the second-richest person in the world
With two partners, Ellison founded what eventually became Oracle in 1977. The company sold shares in an initial public offering on March 12, 1986, a day before Microsoft's IPO. He stepped down as Oracle's chief executive officer in September 2014, taking on the titles of chairman and chief technology officer. Why is Oracle having a moment right now? Oracle has invested billions of dollars over the past few years to become a provider of cloud infrastructure — offering computing power and storage over the internet. That has made the company a beneficiary of the market's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence as startups and other AI firms seek more capacity. Oracle's share price has nearly tripled since ChatGPT's public release in November 2022. The stock jumped 5.7 per cent on July 15 after the US government eased some Biden-era restrictions, allowing chipmakers such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to export certain semiconductors to China. The decision was expected to ease tensions in the global chip supply chain, which bodes well for Oracle, a massive buyer of AI chips for its data centres. Loading The latest gain came during a period of explosive growth for the company, which has seen its shares surge more than 90 per cent since late April due to strong revenues and key AI partnerships. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that OpenAI has agreed to rent an unprecedented sum of computing power from Oracle as it builds increasingly powerful AI tools. Ellison also has benefited from a close relationship with President Donald Trump. Ellison has been a Trump supporter and Republican donor for years, and since retaking office in January Trump has rewarded Ellison by elevating Oracle on multiple occasions. Ellison and Oracle are part of a $US500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate that Trump first touted in January. Trump has also expressed support for Oracle to acquire a partial stake in TikTok's US business, which would give Oracle a share of one of the world's most popular consumer products. Oracle's bid for the popular video app owned by China's ByteDance, which includes several other potential investors, has been endorsed by Trump, but it hasn't been approved by leaders in Beijing. What other businesses does Ellison own? He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on luxury real estate in the past decade, including properties in Malibu and Rancho Mirage, California; the Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island; and an estate in the San Francisco Bay Area modelled on 16th century Japanese feudal architecture. Ellison has been a major shareholder of Tesla and owned about 1.5 per cent of the company as of the carmaker's 2022 proxy statement. He stepped down from Tesla's board of directors in June 2022 and his stake hasn't been disclosed in subsequent proxies. He also was one of the largest outside backers of Musk's bid to purchase Twitter. What are Ellison's interests outside of tech? The software mogul has a history of lavish living. In a 2002 email to the tech founder, an accountant suggested that Ellison 'budget and plan' because his spending habits were becoming difficult to sustain, according to a January 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article. Ellison finances his lifestyle using debt and the proceeds from Oracle stock sales and dividends, which have amounted to more than $US12 billion since 2003, according to an analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg. The avid sailor partially financed the BMW Oracle Racing team, which won the America's Cup in February 2010. He sold his stake in Rising Sun, a 138-meter megayacht, to billionaire David Geffen later that year. His Oracle Team USA defended the America's Cup in October 2013, defeating a team from New Zealand. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to give away at least 95 per cent of his wealth to charitable causes. How has Ellison been involved in Hawaii? Loading Ellison's love for Hawaii, which began in his childhood, led to his $US300 million purchase of 98 per cent of the island of Lanai in 2012. There, he has partnered with David Agus — a doctor who treated Ellison's late best friend, Steve Jobs — to create Sensei, a chain of luxury wellness resorts focused on longevity. His personal connections have brought high-profile visitors including Musk, Tom Cruise and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the once-sleepy island.
West Australian
7 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Apple to buy rare earths from Gina Rinehart and Pentagon-backed US producer MP Materials
Tech giant Apple has struck a $US500 million ($767m) deal to buy rare earth minerals from Gina Rinehart-backed MP Materials, the US producer that just last week secured backing from the Pentagon. The two companies will build a factory in Texas, with neodymium magnet manufacturing lines tailored for Apple products, the iPhone maker said overnight Tuesday in a statement. Apple said the spending on rare earths is part of its earlier pledge to invest more than $US500b in the US over the next four years. Shares of MP Materials surged as much as 18 per cent in New York to the highest intraday price since April 2022. Mrs Rinehart has an 8.5 per cent stake in Las Vegas-based MP Materials, which along with Perth-headquartered Lynas Rare Earths is the only rare earths producer of note with operations beyond Chinese borders. She also holds 8.2 per cent of Lynas' register. The world's dependence on China for rare earths permanent magnets that are essential for consumer tech, cars, wind turbines and fighter aircrafts, has become a flash point in the Asian nation's trade war with the US. After the Trump administration imposed 145 per cemt tariffs on China, boasting that it had the upper hand, Beijing turned the tables by essentially shutting down exports of the critical component. MP Materials operates the sole US rare earths mine at Mountain Pass in California. 'Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States,' Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in the statement. The increased production will support dozens of new manufacturing and R&D jobs, Apple said. The two companies will also work together to establish a rare earths recycling line in Mountain Pass and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance, according to the statement. That facility will allow MP Materials to take in recycled rare earth feedstock and use it in Apple products. 'This collaboration deepens our vertical integration, strengthens supply chain resilience, and reinforces America's industrial capacity at a pivotal moment,' MP Materials CEO James Litinsky said in a separate statement. Magnet shipments from the MP Materials facility in Fort Worth, Texas are expected to begin in 2027 and ramp up to support hundreds of millions of Apple devices, the Las Vegas-based firm said. Investor euphoria over the deal flowed through to trade in Australia, with Lynas up 1.5 per cent to $10.17 amid a broad decline across the rest of the ASX200. Iluka Resources — which is building a rare earths processing plant near Eneabba — also shot up 4 per cent to $4.87. China curbs on rare earths have reverberated across global supply chains — Ford Motor and Suzuki Motor idled some production. Elon Musk said shortages were hurting his robotics business. And governments rushed to secure the few suppliers outside of China. Signs have emerged in recent weeks that the US and China are beginning to deliver on promises made in trade talks held in Geneva and London in the past two months. China agreed to resume shipments of rare earths — with exports surging in June — while the Trump administration has reversed some restrictions on technology exports to China, including some semiconductors from Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Still, in its biggest move yet to push back against China's weaponisation of rare earths, the Pentagon took a $US400m stake in MP last week to secure supplies of magnets critical for military and other applications. The deal came with $US1 billion in financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs to fund a major new plant. While the export halt boosted prices and sparked fears of shortages, over the longer run western producers like MP Materials and Lynas have struggled to turn a profit due to weak prices and oversupply. Bloomberg
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Trump sues to oust US public broadcasting board members
Donald Trump's administration has filed a lawsuit against three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting who have not left their posts despite the US president's attempt to fire them. In a complaint filed in federal court in Washington, the US Justice Department said Trump lawfully fired the three board members - Laura Ross, Diane Kaplan and Tom Rothman — and requested a court order ousting them. The lawsuit is the latest twist in a larger fight between the CPB, which spends more than $US500 million annually on organisations like the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, and the Trump administration. The White House and many Republicans have argued that the government should not provide funding to support programming that they consider too liberal. The CPB did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment from the organisation and from the board members. Created by the US Congress in 1967, the CPB provides financial support for PBS, NPR, and more than 1500 locally managed public radio and TV stations. A Trump executive order from May aimed to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR, which have called the move blatantly unlawful. The CPB's directors are nominated by the US president and confirmed by the Senate for six-year terms. The five current members of the board were all nominated by former president Joe Biden. White House Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse sent emails to Rothman, Ross, and Kaplan in April saying they had been terminated from their posts. The CPB responded by filing its own lawsuit, saying that "because the president has no authority over the CPB, he has no authority to terminate its board members as he has purported to do here." US District Judge Randolph Moss, who is hearing that case, ruled last month that the three board members can keep their seats, even as he denied the CPB an injunction blocking Trump from removing them.
