Oracle Once Paid Salespeople More to Route Deals Through Partners
David Senra · How Larry Ellison Thinks · Nov 4, 2025 · at 44:11
Host David Senra quotes Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison recounting a flawed commission structure that cost Oracle revenue while rewarding partners and sales reps.
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“The sales force convinced their boss that the best way to fix this was to pay more money to the sales force if the deal went through a partner than if the deal came directly to Oracle. For example, if you sold a million dollar deal directly, Oracle would get a million dollars and you'd get a 100,000 dollar commission. But if you sold a million dollar deal through a partner, Oracle would get 600,000 and you would get a 120,000 dollar commission. Needless to say, our Salesforce pushed as many deals as they could through partners that year. So the partners were happy. The Salesforce got higher commission payments for going through partners and they were happy. The only loser was Oracle.”
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