Larry Ellison gave $3 million to Marco Rubio

By Joe Garofoli
August 4, 2015 Updated: August 4, 2015 5:32pm


Photo: Toru Yamanaka, AFP/Getty Images


Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, gestures as he makes a speech during the New Economy Summit 2014 in Tokyo on April 9, 2014. More than 1,000 business leaders, entrepreneurs, businessmen and students took part in the two-day forum. AFP PHOTO/Toru YAMANAKATORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images

On Thursday, Republican presidential candidates will likely pitch Silicon Valley on their technology credentials at the first GOP presidential debate of the 2016 campaign. While many valley voters are still learning about the candidates, Oracle founder Larry Ellison has made his choice — apparently after a bit of wavering.

Last year, Ellison held a fundraiser for libertarian-leaning presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a Silicon Valley favorite. Months later, he hosted a $27,000-per-couple fundraiser at his Woodside mansion for Paul’s presidential rival, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.


When it came time to write a big check, Ellison wound up making a $3 million donation to a super PAC backing Rubio, according to recent federal filings. Ellison’s contribution was the eighth-largest donation from an individual so far in the presidential campaign cycle, and represents roughly one-fifth of the $16 million that Rubio’s super PAC has raised in the first half of the year, according to federal filings.


While Ellison may have been early among his fellow tech executives in writing a large campaign check to a super PAC, he may be reflecting a larger early trend among grassroots tech donors. Rubio’s campaign has received the most money ($23,000) from donors who list their occupation in the tech sector, according to Crowdpac, a Palo Alto site that analyzes money and politics. Among the GOP field, Paul and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush both received the second-biggest sum from tech-company employees, tying at $17,000, according to Crowdpac.


While former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina touts her valley credentials on the trail, her campaign hasn’t received any $1 million-plus donations from tech moguls, and only a little over $7,000 this year from technology company employees, according to Crowdpac.


Other than $1.25 million Paul’s run has received from Scott Banister, an entrepreneur and founder of the online security firm IronPort, the senator’s vocal grassroots support hasn’t translated into a boatload of early cash yet. Paul’s campaign ranks ninth in the GOP field in terms of how much money it has raised through July 31, according to Crowdpac. Fiorina’s ranks 10th.


TECH + POLITICS






What, exactly, inspired the donation remains unknown.
A call to Oracle representatives to discuss Ellison’s contributions was not returned Tuesday.

“Ellison marches to his own drum,” said Donnie Fowler, a Democratic strategist who has represented several presidential campaigns in Silicon Valley over the past 15 years. “He’s kind of like the Donald Trump of the Silicon Valley CEOs — from the way Oracle operates, to the way he runs the America’s Cup to his political contributions.”


Fowler said tech executives often base their political giving primarily on whether that politician supports issues that most benefit the company, whether they be related to trade or taxation. But other times, Fowler said, “the executive will give based on their own personal views.”


“You can look at Marco Rubio and you can imagine that the (first-term senator) seems new, which Silicon Valley loves,” Fowler said.

“He’s charismatic. He’s a change — different from (Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton or ( former Republican Gov. Jeb) Bush. He could fit very well into a Silicon Valley narrative.”


While Rubio may seem tech-friendly because of his team’s social media savvy and economic conservatism, many of his other views seem out of step with Silicon Valley — and Ellison himself.


While Ellison’s foundation has given millions to wildlife sanctuaries and the billionaire purchased 98 percent of the tiny Hawaiian island of Lanai in order to make it into a sustaintainable utopia, Rubio has been dubious about the effect of climate change. Rubio has said that he doesn’t believe that human activity contributes much to climate change, a position that puts him at odds with the vast majority of scientists and the leading U.S. scientific agencies like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


The valley may be home to many fiscal conservatives, but the region is generally liberal on social issues like same-sex marriage. Rubio opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights. He has also taken a hard line against net neutrality and supports the most invasive surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act, two more issues that put him at odds with many in the tech industry.


But those stances didn’t stop Ellison from giving Rubio as much as he gave 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney in the waning weeks of the last presidential campaign.


Then again, Ellison’s campaign giving has long been all over the map.


He has given to both Republicans and Democrats, often in the same cycle. Within a month in 2013, Ellison gave the same amount — $2,600 — to both Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and the top Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid of Nevada.


Crowdpac, which maps individuals based on their ideological stances, puts Ellison “squarely in the center of U.S. politics,” said Crowdpac CEO Steve Hilton, who ran David Cameron’s campaign for prime minister of Great Britain.


Hilton found it “interesting” that Ellison “should support a candidate as conservative as Marco Rubio,” who while “not extremely conservative by any means, but certainly is to the right of Ellison.

The donation could well reflect Rubio’s past effort to implement immigration reform, a crucial issue for Silicon Valley leaders like Ellison,” Hilton said.

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2015 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks in National Harbor, Md. Rubio's presidential ambitions and a court ruling tossing out several congressional district maps will cause upheaval among Florida's representation in Washington, including political complications for a congresswoman considered one of the state's few Democratic stars. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

However, Rubio has changed his stance on immigration. In June 2013, the Senate passed an immigration overhaul, co-authored by Rubio, that included a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. But by October of that year, Rubio had backed off supporting his own plan after the GOP-controlled House refused to consider the measure. In February, at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference, Rubio said he believes that a measure focused primarily on beefing up border security is the “only way forward” on immigration.

While Rubio has found a friendly Silicon Valley billionaire, Fiorina — who used to live among them — is still searching.


The super PAC supporting Fiorina did receive $25,000 from billionaire venture capitalist Tom Perkins, a former Hewlett-Packard board member who pushed for Fiorina’s ouster from the tech company in 2005. Her White House run has also received $5,000 from retired Intel CEO Paul Otellini.


Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP field, is garnering only about 1 percent in most national polls. Paul registers only around 5 percent in the crowded field of 17 candidates.


“Silicon Valley likes winners,” Fowler said. “And right now, people like Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina, who have some affinity with Silicon Valley, aren’t getting the money because they don’t look like winners.”


http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/...ors_picks=true