Billionaire CEO Larry Ellison Cleared in Securities Suit

From two of our colleagues at Reuters:

BOSTON, June 16 – A U.S. judge dismissed an 8-year-old lawsuit against Oracle Corp billionaire CEO Larry Ellison that alleged he made false claims that boosted the software maker’s stock before he sold millions of shares.

Justice Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco issued the order on Tuesday, saying that the plaintiffs had not presented enough evidence to merit bringing the suit to trial.

The lawsuit, which also cited Oracle and two other executives as defendants, had claimed that company officials talked up the stock prior to an earnings warning on March 1, 2001 that caused Oracle shares to plunge.

Oracle fell 2.62 percent on Tuesday to $19.69 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Richard Chang)