> One would imagine that a Silicon Valley legend like Larry Ellison - who built his business empire on the basis of proprietary software products and services - would understand this better than anyone.

When you are worth as much money as Larry Ellison is, it is nearly impossible to not believe that you've become a Master of the Universe for whom the usual rules do not apply because of your ability to bend reality to your whims.

Unfortunately that amount of money also tends to be close to self-perpetuating so they rarely feel the full brunt of comeuppance that otherwise should come from such hubris when they are wrong.