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Wednesday July 12 8:54 AM EDT
Ellison to Grads: Diplomas are for
Losers
By Treat Warland
New Haven, CT - In one of the more controversial commencement
addresses in memory, Oracle CEO and college dropout Larry Ellison
told Yale's Class of 2000 they were "losers" whose hard-won
diplomas would never propel them into the ranks of the super rich.
The evangelical Ellison, noting that college dropouts Bill Gates, Paul
Allen, and Michael Dell were, like himself, on Forbes' recent top 10
list of billionaires, urged freshmen and sophomores at the ceremony
to "drop out and start up," and added that the undereducated Yale
security guards who ushered him off stage probably had a better shot
at uber-wealth than graduating seniors.
What follows is a transcript of the speech
delivered by Ellison at the 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 No. 10 or No. 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 mortar boards 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..."
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