The life of a billionaire — Oracle cofounder and international playboy Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison, the 76-year-old billionaire cofounder of Oracle, is one of the most interesting men in tech. Whether yacht racing, buying whole Hawaiian islands, or trash-talking competitors, there’s always a good chance we’ll be surprised with what Ellison, who has a net worth of $75.7 billion, does next. Here’s how he went from two-time college dropout to international playboy and tech titan.

Lawrence Joseph Ellison was born in the Bronx on August 17, 1944, the son of a single mother. When he was 9 months old, baby Larry came down with pneumonia. His mom sent him to Chicago to live with his aunt and uncle, Lillian and Louis Ellison.

Ellison originally attended the University of Illinois as a pre-med student but transferred to the University of Chicago, where he studied physics. While there, he was first exposed to computers, and he quickly became interested in the field. Like other tech giants — including Bill Gates — Ellison never graduated college. He attended both the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago. Ellison dropped out of both of those institutions.

In 1966, a 22-year-old Ellison moved to Berkeley, California — near the future Silicon Valley and already the place where the tech industry was taking off. Ellison bounced around from job to job, including stints at companies like Wells Fargo and the mainframe manufacturer Amdahl. Along the way, he learned computer and programming skills. The…