Oracle’s Ellison Forgoes Payout to End Pillar Buyout Suit

Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison will forgo a potential $575 million payment tied to the software maker’s acquisition of a company he controlled to settle investors’ claims over the deal.

Ellison, Oracle’s chief executive officer and a company director, agreed to hand over 95 percent of an “earn-out” payment tied to Oracle’s 2011 purchase of Pillar Data Systems Inc. to resolve a pension fund’s claim that shareholders were shortchanged, according to Delaware Chancery Court filings. Ellison owned 55 percent of Pillar, a closely held provider of data-storage systems. He was slated to get as much as $575 million under the agreement based on Pillar’s performance.