Ellison Welcomes Trump

Larry Ellison has been no stranger to political rainmaking in recent years, and throughout his career has supported both Democratic and Republican candidates.

But for the first time, Oracle’s founder, executive chairman and CTO is preparing to raise money for the current president, Donald Trump, with a lavish golf outing in the Southern California desert on Feb. 19, according to reporting from the Desert Sun, which has viewed the invitation.

The embrace of Trump certainly breaks with the zeitgeist of Silicon Valley, where big-tech moguls (including Republicans like former HP CEO Meg Whitman) have kept the president at arms-length, even as they have engaged with the administration on issues critical to their industry.

But the 72-year-old Oracle founder, with a fortune of nearly $70 billion that makes him the fifth-richest person alive, has never been one to avoid going against the grain in Silicon Valley.

Oracle has declined to comment on the fundraiser.