Larry Ellison has scrapped a plan to sell as much as $7.5 billion worth of stock in Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL), reversing course just one day after the arrangement became public.
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Oracle disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday, Sept. 11, that its co-founder and executive chair had adopted a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan on June 22 permitting him to sell up to 50 million shares.
The company confirmed the cancellation in a statement Saturday, Sept. 12.
“No Oracle stock was sold under that plan, and he has no other plans to sell any of his Oracle stock,” Oracle said. The company offered no explanation for the reversal.
The plan was scheduled to run through Oct. 24. At Friday’s closing price, the full 50 million shares carried a value of roughly $7.5 billion. Rule 10b5-1 plans let corporate insiders schedule stock trades in advance, shielding them from allegations of trading on nonpublic information. A cooling-off period typically applies before trades can execute.
Ellison’s decision stands out against his own trading history. He has not sold more than 25,000 Oracle shares in any single instance since the start of this century, according to CNBC, citing FactSet data.
Had he executed the full sale, Ellison would still have retained roughly 1.1 billion shares. He currently controls more than 40% of the company.
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Oracle chose to issue its cancellation statement on a Saturday, an unusual timing choice for corporate disclosures. The three-sentence release gave no further detail beyond confirming zero shares changed hands and no new sale plans exist.
CNBC’s Jim Cramer sees a possible short squeeze brewing after Ellison’s move to scrap his Oracle stock sale plan.
“Larry’s going to jam up the shorts but good with that cancellation of his Oracle sell plan. He’s one canny fellow,” Cramer posted on X.
The AI-Spending Backdrop
The episode unfolded against a backdrop of investor scrutiny over Oracle’s aggressive spending on AI infrastructure. Shares have faced pressure in recent months as the company has ramped up capital commitments tied to data-center buildouts, and the Wall Street Journal noted Oracle stock fell further following the cancellation news.
Whether the reversal reflects confidence in Oracle’s valuation, sensitivity to how a large insider sale might be perceived amid AI-spending concerns, or another factor entirely remains unclear. Ellison built his stake as Oracle’s co-founder and has held on to the bulk of it through decades of the company’s growth into a database and cloud-computing giant.
For now, the withdrawn plan removes a potential overhang tied to insider selling, even as broader questions about Oracle’s AI-related spending trajectory persist among investors watching the stock closely.
ORCL Stock Price Activity: Oracle shares were down 3.77% at $144.61 on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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