Oracle gave Larry Ellison and his co-CEOs nearly $1 billion in stock options. By fiscal year end, all were underwater

Oracle granted co-founder Larry Ellison and his co-CEOs stock option packages with a combined grant-date value of $988 million in fiscal 2026. However, by the fiscal year-end on May 31, all three options were underwater. The decline in value is unsurprising, given the volatility of Oracle stock and the fact that the options were priced near their peak.

Oracle, like other major tech companies, focused on building data centers and spent $55.7 billion in capital last fiscal year. The company's stock closed at $137, a 53% decrease over the past year. Oracle's proxy statement notes that the awards had no intrinsic value at fiscal year-end. Ellison's award was valued at $117.8 million when granted, while the co-CEOs' packages were valued at $621.7 million and $248.7 million, respectively.

To cash in their options, the co-CEOs need the stock to more than double in value. New CFO Hilary Maxson joined Oracle in April 2026 and opted into a program that offers stock options or restricted stock units. Her RSUs, worth $12.7 million at fiscal year-end, have since dropped to $7.7 million. The remaining executives chose RSUs, while field operations president Mark Hura opted for options.

Oracle attributes the size of the awards to the competitive job market for cloud and AI experts. Despite the stock's volatility, cloud revenue grew by 39% to $34 billion, and overall revenue increased by 17% to $67.4 billion. However, Oracle's free cash flow was negative $23.7 billion, and the company sold $43 billion of senior notes.