Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp., the world’s second- largest software maker, cut Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison’s base salary for fiscal 2010 to $1 from $1 million in each of the previous three years.

Oracle announced the salary cut today in a regulatory filing. Ellison, 65, is the third best-paid CEO of a U.S. public company, based on his 2009 pay package, valued at $69.2 million by Graef Crystal, a compensation specialist and Bloomberg News consultant. Ellison trails Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy Corp., and Motorola Inc. co-CEO Sanjay Jha.

For the year ended May 31, Ellison’s package included $3.6 million in bonuses, $1.7 million in other compensation and $62.9 million in stock-option grants, according to Crystal’s estimates. By comparison, McClendon received $112.5 million from the Oklahoma City-based utility, and Jha got $87.4 million from Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola.

Ellison is No. 4 on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people. His wealth comes almost entirely from shares of Redwood City, California-based Oracle, which he co-founded 32 years ago. He is also the company’s largest shareholder, with 23 percent of stock outstanding, as of July 21. That holding is valued at more than $25 billion today.

“Mr. Ellison plays an active and vital role in our operations, strategy and growth,” Oracle said today. “Nevertheless, during fiscal 2010, Mr. Ellison agreed to decrease his annual salary to $1.”

Deborah Hellinger, an Oracle spokeswoman, didn’t return an e-mail seeking comment.

Different Valuation

Ellison received fiscal 2009 compensation of $56.8 million, according to SEC rules, Oracle said in today’s filing. That was a 17 percent increase over the $48.4 million he received in fiscal 2008 on the same basis.

A year ago, Crystal valued Ellison’s 2008 compensation at $72 million, including the value of the options he received during that year. That package drew criticism from some shareholders, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, who backed a say-on-pay proposal last October. The non-binding proposal didn’t pass.

Oracle rose 17 cents to $22.11 today in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 25 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rochelle Garner in San Francisco at rgarner4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 21, 2009 20:32 EDT