Oracle founder Larry Ellison faced a personal turning point in 1986 when his first wife, Barbra, filed for divorce just three months after the birth of their daughter, Megan. According to a report by People.com, the split came at a pivotal time in Ellison’s life as he was balancing the early growth of Oracle with the new family responsibilities. Ellison and Boothe, who met while she worked as a receptionist at Relational Software Inc. — the company that would later become Oracle — married in 1983. Their son, David, was born in January of that year, followed three years later by their daughter, Megan, born January 31, 1986.Barbara filed for divorce in April 1986, just three months after Megan’s birth, bringing the three-year marriage to an end.
Larry Ellison’s reflection on the split
In Matthew Symonds’ 2003 book “Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle,” Ellison said he was determined to remain friends with his ex-wife for the sake of raising healthy, happy children. He also reflected on how fatherhood had reshaped him personally, saying becoming a father fundamentally changed his personality, made him more sensitive to his children’s needs and feelings, and gradually made him a more considerate friend and partner more broadly. He described the experience simply as growing up.
Life after the divorce
After the split, Barbara took over the role of primary caregiver, raising David and Megan largely away from the spotlight of Ellison’s rapidly growing tech fortune.She instilled in both children an early love of film, reportedly building a collection of more than 3,000 VHS tapes that the siblings would watch repeatedly, including favorites like “Jurassic Park” and “Back to the Future.”That shared love of movies would go on to shape both siblings’ adult careers. David Ellison founded Skydance Media, the production company behind franchises including “Mission: Impossible” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” Megan Ellison founded Annapurna Pictures, which has produced acclaimed films such as “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Her,” and “American Hustle,” earning her multiple Academy Award nominations along the way.Ellison, now one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, has been married and divorced multiple times.