Buzz Surrounds Clinton's Oracle Speech

S A N   F R A N C I S C O, Feb. 15, 2001 -- When Bill Clinton delivers the keynotespeech at an Oracle Corp. convention Monday, it might mark thestart of a new business relationship between the former presidentand the world’s second-largest software company.

The buzz around Oracle’s Redwood Shores headquarters these daysis that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, an unabashed Clinton admirer, istrying to persuade his old political friend to fill a vacant seaton the company’s board of directors.

Oracle representatives have little to say about the possibility,but the theory began making the rounds even before Clinton leftoffice Jan. 20.

Clinton’s marquee appearance at an Oracle conference in NewOrleans provides more momentum to the tantalizing notion of theformer president joining forces with Ellison, the world’ssecond-wealthiest man behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Analysts: It Would Make Sense

Oracle said there are no hidden agendas behind Clinton’sPresident’s Day speech in New Orleans, where thousands of thecompany’s customers and software developers will gather.

“We just thought an audience would be interested in hearingfrom the man who was the leader of the free world during a periodof the greatest technological innovation in history,” Oraclespokeswoman Jennifer Glass said.

Clinton’s speaking fee for the New Orleans appearance hasn’tbeen disclosed. Investment bankers Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.paid Clinton $100,000 to speak at a Florida conference last week.

Clinton has stayed in the headlines, and has been a nearlyconstant subject of criticism, since he left office.

On Capitol Hill, a House committee is expanding itsinvestigation into Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier MarcRich, and a Senate panel is taking its own look at the pardon. Atthe White House, workers are sorting out gifts Clinton sent backunder fire.

Even Clinton’s selection of office space in New York City becamea matter of controversy. He went to Harlem on Tuesday to check outoffice space after his plan to rent a floor of a vastly moreexpensive building in midtown Manhattan was criticized.

And while other recent ex-presidents waited months beforejoining the paid lecture circuit, Clinton gave his first paidspeech barely two weeks after leaving office. Morgan Stanleyofficials caught so much flak from clients that they apologized.

On Wednesday, there were reports that London-based firm UBSWarburg has backed away from having Clinton speak because of thecontroversies surrounding him.

If Clinton were to join Oracle’s board, it would make a lot ofsense for both sides, according to business and political analysts.

With Clinton on its board, Oracle would gain the prestige andpolitical clout of a former president, as well as a sharp mind,said Raymond Strother, a Democratic Party media consultant whoworked with Clinton during his Arkansas campaigns for governor.

A Feather in His Cap?

Sitting on Oracle’s board also would represent a feather inClinton’s cap because the company has emerged as one of the world’stechnology leaders and looks like it will remain a force for yearsto come, said Joshua Greenbaum, an industry analyst with EnterpriseApplications Consulting in Daly City.

With his resume, Clinton no doubt is getting inundated withoffers from corporations that want him on their boards, saidStrother, who believes Clinton would be wise to join Oracle.

“They represent the future and he will be better off linkinghimself to the future than the past,” Strother said.

Oracle might also have an inside track because of Ellison’sconnections and kinship with Clinton. In November, Ellison hiredClinton’s former White House press secretary, Joe Lockhart, asOracle’s communications director, a move that some believeforeshadowed Ellison’s interest in courting Clinton.

Unlike many Silicon Valley executives, Ellison hasn’t spent thatmuch of his time or wealth publicly lobbying for his politicalagenda.

While contributing money to both the Democratic and Republicanparties during the past eight years, Ellison openly supportedClinton, even through the various scandals that shadowed the formerpresident.

Clinton’s checkered past and the recent controversies areunlikely to scare off Ellison, a mercurial character who has beenentangled in a series of highly publicized dustups.

“Larry also gets picked on for various shenanigans,” Greenbaumsaid. “That’s why there might be a certain brotherhood developingbetween these two guys. There are some compelling reasons why thesetwo might get along in the same boardroom.”