What is Larry Ellison’s IQ?
Two universities left without a degree and a database inspired by a 1970 research paper are on the record; an IQ test result is not.
Larry Ellison’s IQ has never been published: no test result exists, and no page we found puts a number on his IQ score. What is documented is two universities left without a degree, a database named after a CIA-funded project, and Oracle since June 1977, the record behind this site’s 130–145 estimate.
Larry Ellison’s estimated IQ
- Admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a pre-med student and named science student of the year there, according to Wikipedia and the Academy of Achievement; he left in his second year without a degree, then spent one term at the University of Chicago studying physics and mathematics, again without a degree.
- Worked as a computer programmer in California in the 1970s, including at Ampex, where his first project included a CIA-funded database code-named “Oracle”; Oracle’s own proxy statement says he founded Oracle in June 1977 and was its CEO until September 2014.
- Oracle Database, first released in 1979 as version 2, was among the earliest commercially available databases to use SQL, and Wikipedia’s Oracle article says Ellison took inspiration from E. F. Codd’s 1970 paper on the relational model.
- As of October 2026 he is Oracle’s executive chair of the board and chief technology officer, and the company’s September 2026 proxy statement says he continues to lead product engineering and technology development; the University of Southern California gave him an honorary degree in 2016.
No IQ, SAT or ACT score has been published for Larry Ellison, so this range is inferred from an education and career record, not measured. That record carries no degree, grade or class rank to anchor it, and building and running a company for decades reflects judgment, persistence and selling skill as well as reasoning, so the floor and the ceiling are both soft.
- Born
- August 17, 1944, New York City
- Education
- University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (pre-med, left in second year, no degree); University of Chicago (one term, physics and mathematics, no degree)
- Honorary degree
- University of Southern California, 2016 (one of six at its 133rd commencement)
- Known for
- Founding Oracle (June 1977); Oracle Database, first released in 1979
- Oracle roles
- CEO, June 1977 – September 2014; executive chair and chief technology officer from September 2014 (as of October 2026)
- Name of Oracle
- From the code name of a CIA-funded database project at Ampex
- Recognition
- Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement (1997)
- Test record
- None found: no IQ, SAT or ACT score published
What an IQ of 130–145 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Larry Ellison is
How smart is Larry Ellison, judged only by what can be checked? Lawrence Joseph Ellison was born on August 17, 1944, in New York City and grew up in Chicago, according to Wikipedia. His Larry Ellison education is documented in outline but not in detail. He enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a pre-med student, was named science student of the year and left in his second year; he then attended the University of Chicago for one term, studying physics and mathematics. Reference works give different dates: Gale’s Newsmakers entry lists Illinois for 1962–64 and Chicago for 1966, while Wikidata lists 1962–1964 and 1964–1966, so this page gives no more than the sources share. In 2016 the University of Southern California presented him with an honorary degree, one of six awarded at its 133rd commencement on May 13, 2016, where he was also the speaker.
He moved to Berkeley, California, and worked as a programmer for several companies; after a brief stint at Amdahl he joined Ampex, where, Wikipedia says, his first project included a database for the CIA code-named “Oracle”. Edgar F. Codd of IBM’s San Jose research laboratory had published “A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks” in Communications of the ACM in June 1970 (volume 13, number 6, pages 377–387), and Wikipedia’s Oracle article says Ellison took inspiration from it. Oracle’s proxy statement says he founded Oracle in June 1977; the company began as Software Development Laboratories in Santa Clara, California, with Bob Miner and Ed Oates (accounts differ on whether Ellison was there on the first day; Wikipedia’s biography says he joined several months after Miner founded it). It became Relational Software, Inc. in 1979, Oracle Systems Corporation in 1983 and Oracle Corporation in 1995. The first release of Oracle Database, in 1979, was called version 2, with no version 1, and it was among the earliest commercially available databases to use SQL. The upper end of this site’s range, near an IQ of 140, reflects that technical record; nothing measured puts him there.
Ellison was Oracle’s CEO from June 1977 until September 2014 and its chairman of the board from May 1995 to January 2004, according to the company’s 2026 proxy statement, which lists him as executive chair, chief technology officer and founder and gives his board service as beginning in 1977. On September 22, 2025, Oracle named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia co-CEOs and said Ellison would remain chairman of the board and chief technology officer. As of October 2026, a company press release of September 12, 2026 gives his title as Executive Chair of the Board and Chief Technology Officer, and the proxy says he continues to lead product engineering and technology development at Oracle. Wikipedia adds that he became a director of Apple in 1997, after Steve Jobs returned, and resigned in 2002.
The recognition on record is checkable and says little about test performance: the Academy of Achievement lists him as inducted in 1997, and Wikipedia gives the same year for its Golden Plate Award and adds induction into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame in 2013. The honorary degree and the awards reward what he built, not how he reasons on a test. Larry Ellison’s estimated IQ here, 130–145, is inferred from that record and from nothing measured, and whether the record makes him a genius depends on what genius-level means, a separate question from what a test would return, since none has been published.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed August 2026
Larry Ellison: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1944Born August 17 in New York City.
- c. 1962–1966Attends the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a pre-med student and leaves in his second year; spends one term at the University of Chicago studying physics and mathematics. Reference works differ on the dates.
- 1970In June, E. F. Codd of IBM publishes “A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks” in Communications of the ACM, the paper later credited with inspiring Oracle.
- 1970sWorks as a programmer at several California companies, including Amdahl and Ampex, where his first project includes a CIA-funded database code-named “Oracle”.
- 1977Oracle begins as Software Development Laboratories with Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates; Oracle’s proxy dates his founding of the company to June 1977, though Wikipedia’s biography says he joined several months after Miner started it.
- 1979The company becomes Relational Software, Inc.; the first Oracle Database release, called version 2, ships.
- 1983The company is renamed Oracle Systems Corporation, after its flagship product.
- 2014In September, steps down as CEO and becomes executive chair of the board and chief technology officer.
- 2016On May 13, receives an honorary degree from the University of Southern California and speaks at its 133rd commencement.
- 2025–2026On September 22, 2025, Oracle names Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia co-CEOs; as of October 2026 Ellison remains executive chair and chief technology officer.
Why no figure circulates
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
No page we found states a Larry Ellison IQ score, so there is no circulating number to trace to a source. That absence is informative: a figure becomes common knowledge once pages print it, and none has been printed for him that we could find, with or without a test behind it. Where numbers do circulate for other founders, any figure above 160 cannot come from a standard adult test; the WAIS-IV, for one, reports a Full Scale IQ only from 40 to 160. For how figures like these take hold, see where celebrity IQ numbers come from and how rare a high IQ score is.
How smart is Larry Ellison, according to the pages that answer that question? Mostly with commentary, not a score. Intelligence and IQ says his IQ is hard to pin down because he left two universities without a degree, then reads Oracle’s success as a sign of a high or very high level; the Pumpkin Person blog names him in a post on U.S. centibillionaires without giving an IQ. Neither is a test result, and opinions about someone’s intelligence are not test results. For how wealth and measured IQ do and do not line up, see the IQ of billionaires: what the Swedish data shows.
Where the story goes wrong is the premise that “dropout” says something about the score. What the sources document is narrower. Wikipedia and the Academy of Achievement both say Ellison was named science student of the year at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and left in his second year; both say he then attended the University of Chicago for one term, and Wikipedia adds that he enrolled at Illinois as a pre-med student and studied physics and mathematics at Chicago, where he first met computer design. None of the sources checked records a degree from either. Leaving early shows what he did not finish, not how he would have scored, so this page uses the record that follows instead: a programmer’s career that starts at Ampex and a company he led as CEO for 37 years.
Placed among the business profiles here, Larry Ellison’s 130–145 ends level with Mark Zuckerberg’s 135–145 and sits below Elon Musk’s 140–150, Jeff Bezos’s 145–155 and Steve Jobs’s 150–160. Jobs also left college early, after one semester at Reed College, and his range is likewise inferred from achievement with no test; the gap reflects how this site weighs two different records, not a measurement. It also sits below Bill Gates’s 150–160, a range anchored to a published SAT score. Ellison has no equivalent, and no completed degree to stand in for one, which is why his range carries more doubt than a test-anchored one.
How we read a number →None appears in Oracle’s 2026 proxy statement, the Academy of Achievement profile, Wikipedia, Wikidata, the Gale entry on Encyclopedia.com or USC’s commencement coverage. The pages that discuss his IQ in words (Intelligence and IQ, Pumpkin Person) give no test and no number, and no page we found states a Larry Ellison IQ score.
Intelligence and IQ says his IQ is somewhat difficult to estimate because he left two universities before completing a degree, and attaches no number. Pumpkin Person names him in a list of U.S. centibillionaires and gives no IQ for him.
The proxy lists Ellison as executive chair, CTO and founder, CEO from June 1977 until September 2014 and chairman of the board from May 1995 to January 2004, and says he continues to lead product engineering and technology development. The 2025 release names the co-CEOs and keeps him as chairman and CTO; the 2026 release gives his title as Executive Chair of the Board and Chief Technology Officer.
Names him science student of the year at the University of Illinois, says he left in his second year and dropped out of the University of Chicago after one semester, mentions Codd’s paper and the 1977 founding of Software Development Labs, and lists induction in 1997. No degree or test score appears.
Confirm that Ellison was one of six people presented with honorary degrees and spoke at the commencement. Neither page names the type of degree.
Read in full text: the paper Oracle’s founders drew on, from the IBM Research Laboratory in San Jose. It says nothing about Ellison; the link to Oracle comes from Wikipedia and the Academy of Achievement.
Lists attendance at the University of Illinois, 1962–64, and the University of Chicago, 1966, with no degree; says Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates formed Software Development Laboratories in 1977 and wrote a database called Oracle at Ampex.
Orientation for the Illinois and Chicago years, Amdahl and Ampex, the CIA database code-named Oracle, Codd’s paper as inspiration, the 1979 release of version 2 among the earliest SQL databases, renamings in 1979, 1983 and 1995, the 1997 to 2002 Apple directorship, the 1997 Golden Plate Award and 2013 Hall of Fame, and the WAIS-IV score range of 40 to 160.
Confirms this is Larry Ellison, the American entrepreneur and businessman: born August 17, 1944, in New York City, no date of death recorded, educated at the University of Illinois (1962–1964) and the University of Chicago (1964–1966).
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Larry Ellison, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
No Larry Ellison IQ score circulates on any page we found. The pages that raise the question discuss his intelligence in words, not numbers, so there is no figure to trace to a source.
No published Larry Ellison IQ test result exists, and no SAT or ACT score has been published either. Intelligence and IQ (a post dated March 27, 2021) calls his IQ “somewhat difficult to estimate” because he left the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago before completing a degree, and infers only a high or very high level from Oracle’s success. The Pumpkin Person blog’s October 21, 2021 post on U.S. centibillionaires names him and gives him no IQ. Oracle’s 2026 proxy statement, the Academy of Achievement profile and Wikipedia mention no test.
There is no circulating figure to set against the 130–145 range, so the range stands alone: an inference from his documented education and career, not a correction of any number. Without a figure to check, the evidence behind it is the only thing a reader can weigh, and it carries no test score.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Larry Ellison — frequently asked
What is Larry Ellison’s IQ?
Larry Ellison’s IQ is unknown: no IQ test result has been published for him, and no page we found states a score. This site’s Larry Ellison estimated IQ, 130–145, is inferred from his documented education and career, not from a test.
Did Larry Ellison take an IQ test?
No Larry Ellison IQ test result has been published, and no SAT or ACT score either. Oracle’s 2026 proxy statement, the Academy of Achievement profile and Wikipedia mention none. The only scored recognition on record is being named science student of the year at the University of Illinois, which is an award, not an IQ test.
How smart is Larry Ellison?
The documented record shows a pre-med student admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, a programmer who co-founded the company that released one of the earliest commercial SQL databases, and an Oracle CEO for 37 years who, as of October 2026, still leads its technology as chief technology officer. That supports a high range, estimated here at 130–145, but not a measured score.
What is Larry Ellison’s education and qualification?
No completed degree appears in any source we checked. Ellison enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a pre-med student, left in his second year, and spent one term at the University of Chicago studying physics and mathematics. The degree on record is an honorary one from the University of Southern California, in 2016.
Is Larry Ellison a genius?
“Genius” is a label for achievement, not a score, and Ellison’s is documented in parts: founding Oracle in June 1977, a database released in 1979 that was among the earliest commercial SQL products, and 37 years as CEO. No IQ result exists to test the label, which is why this site gives a range, 130–145, rather than a number.
Did Larry Ellison drop out of college?
Yes, in the sense that he left two universities without a degree. Wikipedia and the Academy of Achievement say he left the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in his second year, then spent one term at the University of Chicago. Reference works disagree on the exact years, and leaving early is not evidence about an IQ score either way.
How does Larry Ellison’s estimated IQ compare with Bill Gates’s?
This site’s estimate for Larry Ellison, 130–145, sits below Bill Gates’s 150–160. The difference is the evidence: Gates’s range is anchored to a published SAT score, while no test or SAT score has been published for Ellison, so his range rests on education and career alone and carries a wider margin of doubt.
How does my IQ compare with Larry Ellison?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other business & tech profiles, starting with Steve Jobs.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More business & tech profiles — same field, same method
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Photograph by Gleuschk (MSRI, May 2007), CC BY-SA 3.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Gage Skidmore (Scottsdale, Arizona, 2022), CC BY-SA 3.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Lukasz Kobus (© European Union, 2023; source: European Commission Audiovisual Service, May 24, 2023), CC BY 4.0. Cropped from the original. Background removed for the portrait above.
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