"Graduates of Yale University, I apologize if you have endured this
type of prologue before, but I want you to do something for me.
Please, take a good look around you. Look at the classmate on your
left. Look at the classmate on your right.
Now, consider this: five years from now, 10 years from now, even
thirty years from now, odds are the person on your left is going to
be a loser. The person on your right, meanwhile, will also be a
loser. And you, in the middle? What can you expect? Loser.
Loserhood. Loser Cum Laude. In fact, as I look out before me today,
I don’t see a thousand hopes for a bright tomorrow. I don’t see a
thousand future leaders in a thousand industries. I see a thousand
losers. You’re upset. That’s understandable. After all, how can
I,Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, college dropout, have the audacity to
spout such heresy to the graduating class of one of the nation’s
most prestigious institutions?
I’ll tell you why. Because I, Lawrence "Larry" Ellison, second
richest man on the planet, am college dropout, and you are not.
Because Bill Gates, richest man on the planet-for now anyway-is a
college dropout, and you are not. Because Paul Allen, the third
richest man on the planet, dropped out of college, and you did not.
And for good measure, because Michael Dell, No.9 on the list and
moving up fast, is a college dropout, and you, yet again, are not.
Hmm ... you’re very upset. That’s understandable. So let me stroke
your Egos for a moment by pointing out, quite sincerely, that your
diplomas were not attained in vain. Most of you, I imagine, have
spent four to five years here, and in many ways what you’ve learned
and endured will serve you well in the years ahead. You’ve
established good work habits. You’ve established a network of people
that will help you down the road. And you’ve established what will
be lifelong relationships with the word "therapy." All that of is
good.
For in truth, you will need that network. You will need those strong
work habits. You will need that therapy. You will need them because
you didn’t drop out, and so you will never be among the richest
people in the world. Oh sure, you may, perhaps, work your way up to
#10 or #11, like Steve Ballmer. But then, I don’t have to tell you
who he really works for, do I? And for the record, he dropped out of
grad school. Bit of a late bloomer.
Finally, I realize that many of you, and hopefully by now most of
you, Are wondering, "Is there anything I can do? Is there any hope
for me at all? Actually, no. It’s too late. You’ve absorbed too
much, think you know too much. You’re not 9 anymore. You have a
built-in cap,and I’m not referring to the mortarboards on your
heads.
Hmm ... you’re really very upset. That’s understandable. So perhaps
this Could be a good time to bring up the silver lining. Not for
you, Class of ’00. You are a write-off, so I’ll let you slink off to
your pathetic 0,000-a-year jobs, where your cheques will be signed
by former classmates who dropped out two years ago. Instead, I want
to give hope to any underclassmen here today. I say to you, and I
can’t stress this enough: leave. Pack your things and your ideas and
don’t come back. Drop out. Start up. For I can tell you that a cap
and gown will keep you down just as surely as these security guards
dragging me off this stage are keeping me down..."
(At this point The Oracle CEO was ushered off stage.)