Judge sides with Ellison in Oracle shareholder suit over NetSuite acquisition

A Delaware judge has ruled in favor of Oracle founder Larry Ellison in a shareholder lawsuit alleging that he coerced the company into paying a grossly inflated price to acquire software corporation NetSuite. The shareholders argued that the $9.3 billion deal in 2016 should be subjected to a rigorous “entire fairness” review because Ellison was both a controlling shareholder of Oracle at the time and owned almost 40% of shares in NetSuite, which he cofounded in 1998. The lawsuit alleges that Oracle overpaid for NetSuite by $3 billion. The judge acknowledged Friday that Ellison was “a force” at Oracle and a face of the company. But he said Ellison was not a controlling shareholder of Oracle and that the company empowered a special committee to negotiate the deal.