Safra Catz
Safra Catz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day Holon, Israel |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Known for | CEO of Oracle Corporation |
Safra Ada Catz (; born December 1961) is an Israeli-American billionaire and prominent figure in banking and technology, currently holding the position of CEO at Oracle Corporation. She became part of Oracle's team in April 1999 and joined its board two years later in 2001. In April 2011, she was promoted to co-president and chief financial officer (CFO), directly reporting to founder Larry Ellison.[1] When Ellison stepped down in September 2014, Catz was named co-CEO alongside Mark Hurd[2]. After Hurd resigned due to health complications in September 2019, Catz assumed the role of sole CEO.[3]
Early life
Safra Catz was born in December 1961 in Holon, Israel, into a Jewish family.[4] At the age of six, she relocated with her family to Brookline, Massachusetts. She completed her secondary education at Brookline High School before earning a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. She further obtained a J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.[5]
Career
Catz launched her professional journey in investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where she served as senior vice president from 1994 to 1997 and then as managing director until 1999. She joined Oracle in April 1999 as senior vice president and was appointed to the board by October 2001. In early 2004, she advanced to president. Notably, she was instrumental in Oracle’s $10.3 billion takeover of rival software firm PeopleSoft in 2005. Since 2005, she has intermittently held the CFO role and was named co-president with Mark Hurd in 2010. Following Larry Ellison’s resignation as CEO in 2014, Catz and Hurd jointly took on CEO responsibilities; after Hurd’s passing in 2019, she became the sole CEO.
Throughout her career, Catz has served on boards of various Oracle subsidiaries such as Hyperion Solutions, PeopleSoft Inc., and Stellent Inc., as well as on the board of HSBC between 2008 and 2015. She also teaches accounting at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, she was considered among leading CEOs for potential government roles including U.S. Trade Representative or Director of National Intelligence.
Her remuneration has been significant: in 2011, she was recognized as the highest-paid woman among Fortune 1000 firms with income surpassing $51 million. By 2016, she topped the list of highest-paid female CEOs in the United States with $40.9 million earnings; her total compensation soared to $138 million in 2022, placing her sixth among U.S. CEOs.
In 2017, Catz and Ellison were defendants in a lawsuit concerning Oracle’s $9.4 billion acquisition of NetSuite, accused of deceiving Oracle’s Special Committee; however, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in their favor in January 2025.
She joined the board of The Walt Disney Company in February 2018. In March 2021, she gained attention for purchasing and selling 2.25 million Oracle shares via derivatives trading with notable profits. In March 2022, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appointed her to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Consistently ranked among the globe’s most influential businesswomen, she was placed twelfth on Fortune’s list in 2009 and climbed to eleventh by 2023.
Political involvement
In the course of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Catz contributed financially to Marco Rubio's campaign. Following Donald Trump's success in the 2016 presidential election, she participated in his transition team while continuing her responsibilities at Oracle. Media outlets often cited her as a likely candidate for positions within the Trump administration, with Bloomberg News indicating she was under consideration for posts such as Director of National Intelligence and United States Trade Representative.
Reports from 2018 placed Catz on a shortlist to succeed H. R. McMaster as National Security Advisor. Throughout the 2018 election period, she donated in excess of $150,000 to various Republican organizations and individuals, including Congressman Devin Nunes. Alongside her husband, she provided $250,000 in support of Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign. Additionally, Catz was a member of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), formed in 2018, which released its concluding report in March 2021.
As a director at The Walt Disney Company, Catz reportedly opposed the depiction of a gay character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2022 feature Strange World, allegedly threatening to remove then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek if the film was distributed.
Personal life
Since 1997, Catz has been married to Gal Tirosh, who formerly worked as a soccer coach. The couple has two sons and resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.