Oracle's detectives reportedly offered $1,200 for Microsoft allies' trash. Ellison felt good.
In June 2000 a judge had just ordered Microsoft split in two. Larry Ellison ran Oracle, Microsoft's rival, and his feud with Bill Gates was famous. One group, the Independent Institute, had run full-page ads defending Microsoft.
In June 1999 Oracle's Washington office hired a detective agency to investigate the group. They went after three groups. At one, they reportedly offered the office cleaning crew $1,200 for its trash, the Associated Press reported.
On 27 June 2000 Oracle confirmed the hiring. Oracle said the groups were posing as independent while Microsoft paid them. The next day Ellison faced a packed press room in Redwood Shores. He told reporters: "I feel very good about what we did." He said he had never heard of the agency until the story broke. And he said: "We will ship our garbage to Redmond, and they can go through it."
A year later to the day, the appeals court threw out the order to split Microsoft in two.
Ellison said he had authorized an investigation, not the trash offer. Approving a third party is not approving its methods.
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Who at your company would have set the limits for that agency?
What the captions say
- This is the story of how Larry Ellison's Oracle confirmed in 2000 it had set detectives on Microsoft's allies, and called it a public service.
- At the time, Microsoft had just lost the government's antitrust case. A judge had ordered it split in two.
- Larry Ellison ran Oracle, Microsoft's rival in software. His feud with Bill Gates was famous. One group, the Independent Institute, had run full-page ads defending Microsoft.
- After those ads, in June 1999, Oracle's Washington office hired a detective agency to investigate the group.
- The detectives went after three groups. At one of them, their staff reportedly offered the office cleaning crew $1,200 for its trash.
- On June 27, 2000, Oracle confirmed the hiring. Oracle said the groups were posing as independent while Microsoft paid them.
- The next day, Ellison faced a packed product launch at Oracle's headquarters in Redwood Shores. Reporters kept asking about the detectives.
- A Microsoft spokesman had already called it a sad day. Ellison defended the investigation.
- Ellison told them: "I feel very good about what we did." He called it a "civic duty" and a "public service".
- He also said he had never heard of the agency until the story broke. Ellison also made Microsoft an offer.
- Ellison said: "We will ship our garbage to Redmond, and they can go through it. We believe in full disclosure."
- About the reports on the trash, Ellison said: "I didn't go through Bill's garbage."
- As for Microsoft, exactly one year later the appeals court threw out the order to split it in two.