Larry Ellison, Netanyahu trial witness, offers ex-PM seat on Oracle board

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The American-Jewish billionaire Larry Ellison, who founded the giant software firm Oracle, has asked former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the board of directors of the company.

Sources close to Netanyahu and Ellison said they did not know if Netanyahu accepted the offer or even responded to it. Netanyahu denied receiving the offer from Ellison. An Oracle spokesman, speaking for Ellison, declined to respond to the report.

Although details of the offer aren’t known, such a board appointment would apparently include compensation of as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Oracle founder Larry EllisonJustin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ellison, who founded Oracle in 1977 and is its largest shareholder, is expected to be a witness for the prosecution in the trial of one of the three pending criminal corruption cases against the former prime minister. The case arises out of conversations between Netanyahu and the publisher of the Yedioth Aharonoth daily, Arnon Mozes, and allegations that Netanyahu sought to obtain favorable news coverage from the daily in exchange for legislation favorable to the Mozes’ media firm.

In recent years, Netanyahu unsuccessfully attempted to convince Ellison to buy the Yedioth group or an Israel website or to establish an Israeli television station.

Ellison, who has known Netanyahu for a considerable time, invited the Netanyahu family to come on vacation last month on Lanai, the Oracle founder’s privately owned Hawaiian island. The tech billionaire is known to have personally entertained the Netanyahus at least once during the visit, but sources said that he and the former prime minister, who remains head of his Likud party and leader of the opposition in the Knesset, also held several other conversations in private.

The Hawaiian island of LanaiFrederick Millett/Shutterstock

A source close to Netanyahu said that the former prime minister and the Oracle executive also had several telephone conversations prior to the trip, when the idea of a business relationship was first broached. The directorship was said to have been proposed to Netanyahu prior to his arrival on Lanai and fleshed out while he was there. Ellison’s net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine at $116.5 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world.

The exact amount of compensation that Netanyahu would receive as a director isn’t known. The average for the other board members is roughly $450,000 a year, but there are directors who earn $800,000. Most of the directors also receive corporate shares, which could boost the compensation considerably.

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As a Knesset member, Netanyahu is legally barred from accepting outside payments. If he were to accept a position on the Oracle board, he would have to resign from the Knesset and end, or at least curtail, his public life.

Political sources said the odds of Netanyahu’s doing that are slim, at least before the Knesset votes on the state budget in November. Netanyahu still believes he has a chance of blocking passage of the budget and defeating Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government. If the budget does pass, however, Netanyahu would have to decide whether to remain leader of the opposition for the foreseeable future or accept a very well-paid job in the private sector.

Several political sources suggested a possible scenario in which Netanyahu resigns from the Knesset but continues to lead the Likud party. In that case, he could earn as much outside compensation as he wished without being subject to public disclosure requirements, and retain control of the party into the next Knesset election.

An added consideration is Netanyahu’s criminal case. He reportedly believes that as long as he has political power of one kind or another, he will be better able to fight the charges against him in court.