Ellison halts $7.5B sale; Oracle shares drop 4.2%

Oracle shares fell 4.2% on Monday after co-founder Larry Ellison halted a planned sale of up to 50 million shares. The trading plan, first disclosed in a securities filing, was canceled Saturday and no shares were sold under the arrangement.

In its filing, Oracle stated: “No Oracle stock was sold under that plan, and he has no other plans to sell any of his Oracle stock.”

The filing said the sale had been adopted on June 22 and was expected to run through Oct. 24. Based on recent prices, the potential sale was valued at roughly $7.5 billion.

Ellison remains one of Oracle’s largest shareholders and has held a substantial stake since the company’s founding. Public filings and analyst estimates indicate about 24% of his estimated $200 billion net worth has been pledged as collateral. He has also pledged more than $40 billion in support of a separate acquisition bid led by his son.

Oracle has ramped up capital spending to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company plans to raise as much as $50 billion this year through stock and debt sales to finance data centers and other AI projects. First-quarter capital expenditures were $28.5 billion, up from $8.5 billion a year earlier. Oracle maintained a fiscal 2027 capex forecast of $90 billion to $95 billion.

Some credit analysts expect Oracle may require at least another $100 billion in financing through 2027 and the first half of 2028. Oracle’s stock is down more than 23% so far in 2026 while the Nasdaq has gained over 13%.

The company has begun another round of layoffs tied to organisational changes. Oracle notified affected employees that their positions were being eliminated as part of a broader reorganisation. The workforce had already declined by about 21,000 employees, or roughly 13%, during the fiscal year that ended May 31; the company had about 141,000 employees before the latest reductions.

Oracle’s most recent earnings report showed growth in cloud revenue. The planned share sale would have added potential stock supply; its cancellation removed that immediate factor. The company continues to expand AI capacity while increasing borrowing and managing workforce changes.

A historical note: In January 2001, Ellison sold nearly $900 million of Oracle stock before a major share decline later that year. He later agreed to a $100 million charitable payment to resolve a shareholder lawsuit related to insider trading.