Oracle co-founder and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison pledged an additional 67 million Oracle shares, worth about $9.2 billion, as collateral for personal loans, according to a recent proxy filing. His pledged Oracle stock increased 19% compared with the previous year. The pledged shares now represent about 36% of his total Oracle holdings.
The loans are reportedly intended to help finance his son David Ellison's planned $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Oracle policy prohibits officers and directors from pledging company shares, but makes an exception for Ellison.
The increase has raised concerns about structural risks and potential volatility in Oracle's share price. It could link the stock's stability to the outcome of a large external media merger.