Oracle (ORCL) DEF 14ADefinitive proxy

PROXY STATEMENT

We are providing these proxy materials in connection with Oracle Corporation’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Annual Meeting). The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the Notice), this proxy statement and the accompanying proxy card or voting instruction card, including an Internet link to our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, were first made available to stockholders on or about September 25, 2024. This proxy statement contains important information for you to consider when deciding how to vote on the matters brought before the Annual Meeting. Please read it carefully.

HOW DO I VOTE?

Your vote is important. You may vote on the Internet, by telephone, by mail or during the Annual Meeting, all as described below. The Internet and telephone voting procedures are designed to authenticate stockholders by use of a control number and to allow you to confirm that your instructions have been properly recorded. If you vote by telephone or on the Internet, you do not need to return your proxy card or voting instruction card.

Telephone and Internet voting facilities are available now and will be available 24 hours a day until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 13, 2024.

If you are a stockholder of record, you may submit your proxy by going to www.proxyvote.com and following the instructions provided in the Notice. If you requested printed proxy materials, you may follow the instructions provided with your proxy materials and on your proxy card. If your shares are held with a broker, you will need to go to the website provided on your Notice or voting instruction card. Have your Notice, proxy card or voting instruction card in hand when you access the voting website. On the Internet voting site, you can confirm that your instructions have been properly recorded. If you vote on the Internet, you can also request electronic delivery of future proxy materials.

If you are a stockholder of record, you can also vote by telephone by dialing 1-800-690-6903. If your shares are held with a broker, you can vote by telephone by dialing the number specified on your voting instruction card. Easy-to-follow voice prompts will allow you to vote your shares and confirm that your instructions have been properly recorded. Have your proxy card or voting instruction card in hand when you call.

If you have requested printed proxy materials, you may choose to vote by mail, by marking your proxy card or voting instruction card, dating and signing it, and returning it in the postage-paid envelope provided. If the envelope is missing and you are a stockholder of record, please mail your completed proxy card to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717. If the envelope is missing and your shares are held with a broker, please mail your completed voting instruction card to the address specified therein. Please allow sufficient time for mailing if you decide to vote by mail.

Please note that if you received a Notice, you cannot vote by marking the Notice and returning it. The Notice provides instructions on how to vote by Internet and how to request paper copies of the proxy materials.

The method or timing of your vote will not limit your right to vote at the Annual Meeting if you attend the Annual Meeting and vote on the virtual meeting platform. The shares voted electronically, telephonically, or represented by the proxy cards received, properly marked, dated, signed and not revoked, will be voted at the Annual Meeting.

		2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders   7

This year’s Annual Meeting will be held in a virtual format only. The accompanying proxy materials and the meeting’s website, www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/ORCL2024, include instructions on how to participate in the meeting and how you may vote your shares of Oracle stock. To be admitted to the Annual Meeting online, vote and submit a question during the meeting, you must enter the 16-digit control number included on the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, on your proxy card (if you requested printed materials), or on the instructions that accompanied your proxy materials.

The virtual meeting platform is fully supported across browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari) and devices (desktops, laptops, tablets, and cell phones) running the most updated version of applicable software and plugins. Participants should ensure that they have a strong Wi-Fi connection wherever they intend to participate in the meeting. Participants should also give themselves enough time to log in and ensure that they can hear streaming audio prior to the start of the meeting.

We encourage you to access the Annual Meeting before it begins. Online check-in will start 15 minutes before the meeting on November 14, 2024. If you have difficulty accessing the meeting, please call the technical support number that will be posted on the meeting log-in page.

8   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Nominees for Directors

There are 13 director nominees, all of whom stood for election at our last annual meeting of stockholders. Two of our current non-independent directors, Renée J. James and Vishal Sikka, will not be standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting. We thank them for their service to Oracle. Following the Annual Meeting, the Board size will be reduced from 15 to 13 directors.

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines (described in “Corporate Governance—Corporate Governance Guidelines” on page 23) contain Board membership qualifications that apply to Board nominees recommended by the Governance Committee. The Governance Committee strives for a mix of skills, experience and perspectives that will help create an outstanding, diverse, dynamic and effective Board. In selecting nominees, the Governance Committee assesses the character and acumen of candidates and endeavors to collectively establish areas of core competency of the Board, including, among others, industry and technical knowledge and experience; management, accounting and finance expertise; and demonstrated business judgment, leadership and strategic vision. The Governance Committee values a diversity of backgrounds, experience, perspectives and leadership in different fields when identifying director nominees. As noted in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Governance Committee is committed to actively seeking directors who are diverse with respect to gender, race and ethnicity for the pool from which director candidates are chosen.

The Governance Committee also takes director tenure into consideration when making director nomination decisions and believes that it is desirable to maintain a mix of longer-tenured, experienced directors that have developed increased institutional knowledge of and valuable insight into our company and its operations and newer directors with fresh perspectives. The Governance Committee and the Board also believe that longer-tenured, experienced directors are a significant strength of the Board, given the large size of our company, the breadth of our product offerings and the international scope of our organization. See “Corporate Governance—Director Tenure, Board Refreshment and Diversity” on page 31 for more information.

Below we identify the key experiences, qualifications and skills our director nominees bring to the Board and that the Board considers important in light of Oracle’s businesses and industry.

		2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders   9

The Board evaluates its own composition in the context of the diverse experiences and perspectives that the directors collectively bring to the boardroom. Their backgrounds provide the Board with vital insights. The matrix below summarizes what our Board believes are desirable skills and experiences for director nominees in light of our current business strategy but does not encompass all skills and experiences of such director nominees. Each director nominee’s biography provides further details regarding each nominee’s specific qualifications.

Key Skills & Experience

Ellison

Catz

Henley

Ablo

Berg

Boskin

Chizen

Conrades

Fairhead

Moorman

Panetta

Parrett

Seligman

Technology Industry

Risk Management

Strategic Transformation

Global Organizations

Long-term Growth Strategy

Healthcare Industry

Governmental Affairs and Regulation

Finance and Accounting

International Tax and Monetary Policy

Technological Innovation and IP

Cybersecurity

Executive Leadership and Talent Development

Former/current director at another public company

10   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

The Governance Committee will consider all properly submitted candidates recommended by stockholders for Board membership. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines (available on our website at www.oracle.com/goto/corpgov) set forth the Governance Committee’s policy regarding the consideration of all properly submitted candidates recommended by stockholders as well as candidates recommended by current Board members and others.

Any stockholder wishing to recommend a candidate for consideration for nomination by the Governance Committee must provide written notice to the Corporate Secretary of Oracle by mail at Oracle Corporation, 2300 Oracle Way, Austin, Texas 78741 or by email (Corporate_Secretary@oracle.com) with a confirmation copy sent by mail to the address above. The written notice must include the candidate’s name, biographical data and qualifications and a written consent from the candidate agreeing to be named as a nominee and to serve as a director if nominated and elected. By following these procedures, a stockholder will have properly submitted a candidate for consideration. However, there is no guarantee that the candidate will be nominated.

Potential director candidates are generally suggested to the Governance Committee by current Board members and stockholders and are evaluated at meetings of the Governance Committee. In evaluating such candidates, every effort is made to complement and strengthen skills within the existing Board. The Governance Committee seeks Board approval of the final candidates recommended by the Governance Committee. The same evaluation procedures apply to all candidates for director, whether submitted by stockholders or otherwise.

Information regarding procedures for the stockholder submission of director nominations to be considered at our next annual meeting of stockholders may be found in “Corporate Governance—Proxy Access and Director Nominations” on page 24 and “Stockholder Proposals for the 2025 Annual Meeting” on page 80. Submissions must follow the requirements set forth in our Bylaws.

In addition, to comply with the universal proxy rules, stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than our nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) no later than September 15, 2025. However, we note that this date does not supersede any of the requirements or timing set forth in our Bylaws.

Communications with the Board

Any person wishing to communicate with any of our directors, including our lead independent director and our other independent directors, regarding bona fide issues about Oracle may send an email to Corporate_Secretary@oracle.com or may write to the director(s), c/o the Corporate Secretary of Oracle at 2300 Oracle Way, Austin, Texas 78741. The Corporate Secretary will periodically forward relevant communications to the appropriate directors or committees of the Board. In addition, we present germane communications, as well as draft responses, at meetings of our Governance Committee. These communications and draft responses are also provided to the appropriate committee or group of directors based on the subject matter of the communication; for example, communications regarding executive compensation are provided to our Compensation Committee, in addition to our Governance Committee.

Board Meetings

16   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Board members are also given the opportunity to attend director education sessions throughout the year. The sessions feature presentations by members of management on different areas of our business. Although these sessions are not mandatory, many of our directors choose to participate.

Committees, Membership and Meetings

The current standing committees of the Board are the F&A Committee, the Governance Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Committee on Independence Issues (the Independence Committee).

Each committee reviews its charter at least annually, or more frequently as legislative and regulatory developments and business circumstances warrant. Each of the committees may make additional recommendations to our Board for revision of its charter to reflect evolving best practices. The charters for the F&A, Governance, Compensation, and Independence Committees are posted on our website at www.oracle.com/goto/corpgov.

The table below identifies committee membership as of September 16, 2024, the record date of the Annual Meeting.

Director		Finance and Audit		Compensation		Governance		Independence
Awo Ablo
Jeffrey S. Berg								Chair
Michael J. Boskin		Chair
Safra A. Catz
Bruce R. Chizen						Chair
George H. Conrades				Chair
Lawrence J. Ellison
Rona A. Fairhead
Jeffrey O. Henley
Renée J. James
Charles W. Moorman
Leon E. Panetta
William G. Parrett
Naomi O. Seligman				Vice Chair
Vishal Sikka

The Board has determined that all directors who served during fiscal 2024 on the Compensation, F&A, Governance and Independence Committees were independent under the applicable New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing standards during the periods they served on those committees. The Board has also determined that all directors who served during fiscal 2024 on the Compensation and F&A Committees satisfied the applicable NYSE and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) heightened independence standards for members of compensation and audit committees during the periods they served on those committees. See “Corporate Governance—Board of Directors and Director Independence” on pages 30 and 31 for more information.

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The F&A Committee oversees our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audit and integrity of our financial statements, assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities regarding audit, finance, accounting, cybersecurity, tax and legal compliance and risk, and evaluates merger and acquisition transactions and investment transactions proposed by management. In particular, the F&A Committee is responsible for overseeing the engagement, independence, compensation, retention and services of our independent registered public accounting firm. The F&A Committee’s primary responsibilities and duties are to:

The F&A Committee held executive sessions with our independent registered public accounting firm on four occasions in fiscal 2024. The Board has determined that each of Dr. Boskin and Mrs. Fairhead qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by SEC rules.

The Compensation Committee helps us attract, retain and incentivize talented executives. The Compensation Committee’s primary responsibilities and duties are to:

18   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

In determining any component of executive or director compensation, the Compensation Committee considers the aggregate amounts and mix of all components in its decisions. Our legal department, human resources department and the Compensation Committee’s independent compensation consultant support the Compensation Committee in its work. For additional details regarding the Compensation Committee’s role in determining executive compensation, including its engagement of an independent compensation consultant, refer to “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis” beginning on page 36. See “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Elements of Our Executive Compensation Program—Long-Term Incentive Compensation—Equity Awards and Grant Administration” on page 49 for a discussion of the Compensation Committee’s role as the administrator of our stock plans and for a discussion of our policies and practices regarding the grant of our equity awards.

Risk Assessment of Compensation Policies and Practices

The Compensation Committee, in consultation with management and Compensia, Inc., the committee’s independent compensation consultant, has assessed the compensation policies and practices applicable to our executive officers and other employees and concluded that they do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on Oracle. The Compensation Committee conducts this assessment annually.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

No member of the Compensation Committee has ever been an officer or employee of Oracle or of any of our subsidiaries or affiliates or has had any relationship with Oracle requiring disclosure under Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. During the last fiscal year:

The Governance Committee’s primary responsibilities and duties are to:

The Independence Committee is comprised solely of independent directors and is charged with reviewing and approving individual transactions, or a series of related transactions, involving amounts in excess of $120,000 between us (or any of our subsidiaries) and any of our affiliates, such as an executive officer, director or owner of 5% or more of our common stock. The Independence Committee’s efforts are intended to ensure that each proposed related person transaction is on terms that, when taken as a whole, are fair to us. If any member of the Independence Committee would derive a direct or indirect benefit from a proposed transaction, he or she is excused from the review and approval process with regard to that transaction. The role of the Independence Committee also encompasses monitoring of related person relationships as well as reviewing proposed transactions and other matters for potential conflicts of interest and possible corporate opportunities in accordance with our Global Conflict of Interest Policy. In addition, the Independence Committee evaluates and makes recommendations to the Board regarding the independence of each non-employee director under the applicable NYSE listing standards.

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Director Compensation

		Initial and annual equity awards capped at a maximum dollar value				Emphasis on equity to align director compensation with our stockholders’ long-term interests
		No committee chair equity awards				No per-meeting fees
		Stockholder-approved limits on equity awards				No performance-based equity awards
		Robust stock ownership guidelines (see page 28 for details)				No retirement benefits or perquisites

Our directors play a critical role in guiding our strategic direction and overseeing the management of Oracle. Ongoing developments in corporate governance, executive compensation and financial reporting have resulted in increased demand for highly qualified and productive public company directors. In addition, Oracle’s acquisition program and expansion into new lines of business can demand substantial time commitments from our directors.

The compensation paid to our non-employee directors is designed to be commensurate with the considerable time commitments, requisite skill set and the many responsibilities and risks of being a director of a public company of Oracle’s size, complexity and profile. Our non-employee directors are compensated based on their respective levels of Board participation and responsibilities, including service on Board committees. Our non-employee directors display a high level of commitment and flexibility in their service to Oracle. Several of our directors serve on more than one committee. Our non-employee directors regularly engage with our senior management and meet with our stockholders throughout the year to better understand their perspectives. Annual cash retainers and equity awards granted to our non-employee directors are intended to correlate with their respective qualifications, responsibilities and time commitments.

Our employee directors, Mr. Ellison, Ms. Catz and Mr. Henley, do not receive separate compensation for serving as directors of Oracle.

Non-employee directors participate in our Amended and Restated 1993 Directors’ Stock Plan (the Directors’ Stock Plan), which sets forth stockholder-approved stock option limits on annual equity awards for service on the Board and as a committee chair or vice chair. The Directors’ Stock Plan provides that in lieu of all or some of the stock option limits set forth in the plan, non-employee directors may receive grants of restricted stock units (RSUs) of an equivalent value, as determined by the Board. The Board has determined that a ratio of four stock options to one RSU should be used, consistent with its historic approach for equity awards granted to Oracle employees, and that all non-employee director equity awards will be delivered in the form of RSUs that are granted on May 31 of each year and fully vest on the first anniversary of the date of grant, subject to the director’s continued service.

For a number of years, the Board has provided that each equity award will be limited to the lesser of the stockholder-approved equity award limits set forth in the Directors’ Stock Plan or a specified grant value and has granted equity awards with a value significantly below such stockholder-approved equity award limits. The Board approved further changes to our non-employee director compensation program in fiscal 2020, including reductions in the size of equity awards and the elimination of committee chair equity awards.

Below is a summary of the stockholder-approved equity award limit for annual equity awards compared to the Board-approved grant value limit for such awards and the number of RSUs actually granted to non-employee directors on May 31, 2024. As noted above, no additional equity awards were granted to committee chairs or vice chairs.

Grant Type		Stockholder-Approved Equity Award Limit		Board-Approved Grant Value Limit		Equity Actually Granted on May 31, 2024 (1)		% Reduction from Stockholder-Approved Limits (2)
Board Annual Grant		45,000 options (or 11,250 RSUs)		$350,000		2,986 RSUs		73%

20   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

The Directors’ Stock Plan also provides for an initial equity award of not more than 45,000 stock options (or 11,250 RSUs) for new non-employee directors, prorated based upon the number of full calendar months remaining in the fiscal year of the director’s appointment. In accordance with the reductions to our non-employee director compensation described above, any new non-employee director will receive an initial equity award equal to the lesser of 11,250 RSUs or RSUs with a total value of $350,000 (calculated by dividing the grant value by the closing price of Oracle common stock on the date of grant, rounding down to the nearest whole share), prorated based upon the number of full calendar months remaining in the fiscal year of the director’s appointment. Initial equity awards fully vest on the first anniversary of the date of grant, subject to the director’s continued service.

The following table provides summary information regarding the compensation we paid to our non-employee directors in fiscal 2024.

		2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders   21

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

We regularly monitor developments in corporate governance and review our processes and procedures in light of such developments. As part of those efforts, we review federal laws affecting corporate governance, as well as rules adopted by the SEC and NYSE. We believe we have in place corporate governance procedures and practices that are designed to enhance our stockholders’ interests.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

The Board has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines (the Guidelines), which address the following matters:

The Guidelines require all members of the F&A, Compensation, Governance and Independence Committees to be independent, each in accordance with or as defined in the rules adopted by the SEC and the NYSE. The Independence Committee and the Board make this determination annually for all non-employee directors.

The Board and each committee have the power to hire legal, accounting, financial or other outside advisors as they deem necessary in their best judgment without the need to obtain the prior approval of any officer of Oracle. Directors have full and free access to officers and employees of Oracle and may ask questions and conduct investigations as they deem appropriate to fulfill their duties.

Conflict of interest expectations for our non-employee directors are addressed in the Guidelines and provide that each non-employee director must disclose to our Chief Legal Officer:

The Chief Legal Officer must report all such disclosures to the Independence Committee, and the Board must consider such disclosures and other available information and take such actions as it considers appropriate. All directors are expected to comply with Oracle’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, except that for our non-employee directors, the provisions regarding conflicts of interest in the Guidelines supersede these same provisions in the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct.

The Guidelines provide for regular executive sessions to be held by non-employee directors. The Guidelines also provide that the Board or Oracle will establish or provide access to appropriate orientation programs or materials for the benefit of newly elected directors, including presentations from senior management and visits to Oracle’s facilities.

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Under the Guidelines, the Board periodically evaluates the appropriate size of the Board and may make any changes it deems appropriate. The Compensation Committee is required under the Guidelines to conduct an annual review of our CEO’s performance and compensation, and the Board reviews the Compensation Committee’s report to ensure the CEO is providing the best leadership for Oracle in the short and long term.

The Guidelines are posted, and we intend to disclose any future amendments to the Guidelines, on our website at www.oracle.com/goto/corpgov.

Proxy Access and Director Nominations

Under our proxy access bylaw, a stockholder (or a group of up to 20 stockholders) owning at least 3% of Oracle’s outstanding shares continuously for at least three years may nominate and include in Oracle’s annual meeting proxy materials director nominees constituting up to the greater of two individuals or 20% of the Board, provided that the stockholders and the nominees satisfy the requirements specified in our Bylaws.

See “Stockholder Proposals for the 2025 Annual Meeting” on page 80 for information on the requirements for stockholders who wish to submit a director nomination for inclusion in our 2025 proxy statement or submit a director nomination to be presented at our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (but not for inclusion in our proxy statement).

Majority Voting Policy

The Guidelines set forth our majority voting and mandatory resignation policy for directors, which states that, in an uncontested election, if any director nominee receives an equal or greater number of votes WITHHELD from his or her election as compared to votes FOR such election (a Majority Withheld Vote) and no successor has been elected at such meeting, the director must promptly tender his or her resignation following certification of the stockholder vote.

The Governance Committee must consider the resignation offer and a range of possible responses based on the circumstances that led to the Majority Withheld Vote, if known, and make a recommendation to the Board as to whether to accept or reject the tendered resignation, or whether other action should be taken. The Governance Committee in making its recommendation, and the Board in making its decision, may each consider any factors or other information that it considers appropriate and relevant, including, but not limited to:

The Board will act on the Governance Committee’s recommendation within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote. The Board may accept or reject a director’s resignation. Thereafter, the Board will promptly publicly disclose in a report furnished to the SEC its decision regarding the tendered resignation, including its rationale for accepting or rejecting the tendered resignation. If the Board accepts a director’s resignation, then the Board, in its sole discretion, may fill any resulting vacancy or may decrease the size of the Board, in each case pursuant to our Bylaws. If a director’s resignation is not accepted by the Board, such director will continue to serve until the next annual meeting and until his or her successor is duly elected, or his or her earlier resignation or removal.

Any director who tenders his or her resignation pursuant to this policy may not participate in the Governance Committee recommendation or Board action regarding whether to accept his or her resignation offer. However, if a majority of the members of the Governance Committee received a Majority Withheld Vote at the same election, then the independent directors who did not receive a Majority Withheld Vote must appoint a committee among themselves to consider any resignation offers and recommend to the Board whether to accept such resignation offers.

24   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Through this policy, the Board seeks to be accountable to all stockholders and respects the rights of stockholders to express their views through their votes for directors. However, the Board also deems it important to preserve sufficient flexibility to make sound evaluations based on the relevant circumstances in the event of a greater than or equal to 50% WITHHELD vote against a specific director. For example, the Board may wish to assess whether the sudden resignations of one or more directors would materially impair the effective functioning of the Board. The Board’s policy is intended to allow the Board to react to situations that could arise if the resignation of multiple directors would prevent a key committee from achieving a quorum. The policy also would allow the Board to assess whether a director was targeted for reasons unrelated to his or her Board performance at Oracle. The policy imposes a short time frame for the Board to consider a director nominee’s resignation and make its decision public.

Insider Trading Policy

We are committed to promoting high standards of ethical business conduct and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. As part of this commitment, we have adopted an Insider Trading Policy governing the purchase, sale and other dispositions of our securities by our directors, officers and employees. We believe the Insider Trading Policy is reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules and regulations and applicable NYSE listing standards. A copy of our Insider Trading Policy was filed as Exhibit 19 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2024.

Prohibition on Speculative Transactions and Pledging Policy

The Pledging Policy also requires the Governance Committee to review all pledging arrangements, assess any risks to Oracle and its stockholders and report on the arrangements to the F&A Committee and the Board. The Pledging Policy provides that all pledges must comply with Oracle’s Insider Trading Policy and must be pre-cleared as specified in Oracle’s Trading Pre-clearance Procedures. The Governance Committee may periodically seek outside advice and counsel in connection with its oversight of pledging arrangements.

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No other executive officer or director, or any of their immediate family members, holds shares of Oracle common stock that have been pledged to secure any personal or other indebtedness. Every fiscal quarter, the Governance Committee reviews Mr. Ellison’s pledging arrangements from a risk management perspective and regularly provides a report to the F&A Committee and the Board. In accordance with the Pledging Policy, the Governance Committee considers the following when reviewing the pledging arrangements:

26   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Board and Committee Performance Evaluations

The Board and each of its committees conduct annual self-evaluations to determine whether they are functioning effectively and whether any changes are necessary to improve their performance. The Board believes that the multi-step evaluation process outlined below allows for a constructive review of the Board and is essential to maintaining Board effectiveness.

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Stock Ownership Guidelines for Directors and Senior Officers

Non-employee directors and senior officers are required to own shares of Oracle common stock to align their interests with the long-term interests of our stockholders. The Compensation Committee oversees and reviews compliance with these ownership requirements, which we refer to as the Stock Ownership Guidelines, and periodically reviews and recommends changes to such requirements.

Under the Stock Ownership Guidelines, each of our non-employee directors and senior officers must own the following number of shares of Oracle common stock within five years from the date such person becomes a director or senior officer:

Each person promoted from within the senior officer positions has one year from the date of his or her promotion to comply with any increased ownership requirement. Shares of Oracle common stock that count toward satisfying the Stock Ownership Guidelines include any shares held directly or through a trust or broker; shares held by a spouse; shares held through our 401(k) Plan and our Oracle Corporation Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the ESPP); and shares underlying vested but unexercised stock options, with 50% of the “in-the-money” value of such options being used for this calculation. Full-value awards, such as RSUs, do not count toward satisfying the Stock Ownership Guidelines until they vest and 50% of the value of deferred, vested RSUs counts towards this calculation. As of September 16, 2024, we believe all of our non-employee directors and senior officers are currently in compliance with the Stock Ownership Guidelines or have additional time to comply, and many of them maintain holdings of Oracle common stock significantly in excess of the minimum required number of shares.

Board Leadership Structure

The roles of Board Chair and CEO are currently filled by separate individuals. Since September 2014, Mr. Ellison has served as our Chairman and Ms. Catz has served as our CEO. Previously, Mr. Henley served as Chairman and Mr. Ellison served as CEO.

The Board believes that the separation of the offices of the Chair and CEO is appropriate at this time because it allows our CEO to focus primarily on Oracle’s business strategy, operations and corporate vision. The Board elects our Chair and our CEO, and each of these positions may be held by the same person or by different people. We believe it is important that the Board retain flexibility to determine whether these roles should be separate or combined based upon the Board’s assessment of the company’s needs and Oracle’s leadership at a given point in time. The Board believes our company and our stockholders benefit from this flexibility, as our directors are well positioned to determine our leadership structure given their in-depth knowledge of our management team, our strategic goals, and the opportunities and challenges we face.

We believe that independent and effective oversight of Oracle’s business and affairs is maintained through the composition of the Board, the leadership of our independent directors and Board committees and our governance structures and processes. The Board consists of a substantial majority of independent directors, and all of the standing Board committees are composed solely of independent directors.

As set forth in our Guidelines, on an annual rotating basis, the chairs of the F&A Committee, the Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee serve as the lead independent director at executive sessions of the Board. The lead independent director’s duties include, among others, serving as a liaison between our non-management and management directors, facilitating discussion among non-management directors on key issues and concerns outside of Board meetings, being available, when appropriate, for consultation and direct communication with large stockholders, and performing such other additional duties as the Board determines. Currently, Mr. Conrades serves as the lead independent director and chair of the Compensation Committee. The directors filling this role take it very seriously and the Board believes the position is strengthened by the particular insights and diversity of viewpoints that the different committee chairs bring to the position. This structure also provides a broader group of directors the opportunity to serve in an additional leadership role.

28   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

While the Board has the ultimate oversight responsibility for Oracle’s risk management policies and processes, various committees of the Board also have the following responsibilities for risk oversight.

The Board is kept informed of each committee’s risk oversight and other activities via regular reports of the committee chairs to the full Board. For example, the F&A Committee performs an initial review of proposed acquisitions that meet a threshold figure—taking into consideration any risks associated with the transaction—and determines whether to recommend that the Board approve the transaction. The F&A Committee also reviews completed acquisitions periodically to determine whether the acquired companies have performed as expected.

In addition, the full Board plays an active oversight and risk mitigation role through its regular review of Oracle’s strategic direction. While management is responsible for setting Oracle’s strategic direction, the directors review Oracle’s strategy at every regular meeting of the Board. One Board meeting each year is dedicated to strategy and has historically been held off-site. The Board engages in candid discussions with management with respect to Oracle’s strategic direction. We believe this Board oversight helps identify and mitigate risks associated with our overall business strategy.

Each of our directors stands for election every year. We do not have a classified or staggered board. If the director nominees are elected at the Annual Meeting, the Board will continue to be composed of three employee directors (Mr. Ellison, Ms. Catz and Mr. Henley) and ten non-employee directors.

Upon the recommendation of the Independence Committee, the Board determined that each of the following ten current directors is independent (as defined by applicable NYSE listing standards and our Corporate Governance Guidelines): Ms. Ablo, Mr. Berg, Dr. Boskin, Mr. Chizen, Mr. Conrades, Mrs. Fairhead, Mr. Moorman, Secretary Panetta,

30   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Mr. Parrett and Ms. Seligman. Therefore, all directors who served during fiscal 2024 on the Compensation, F&A, Governance and Independence Committees were independent under the applicable NYSE listing standards and SEC rules. The Board further determined, upon recommendation of the Independence Committee, that all directors who served during fiscal 2024 on the Compensation and F&A Committees satisfied the applicable NYSE and SEC heightened independence standards for members of compensation and audit committees.

In making the independence determinations, the Board and the Independence Committee considered all facts and circumstances relevant under the NYSE listing standards and SEC rules, including any relationships between Oracle and entities affiliated with the directors. In particular, the following relationships were considered:

The non-employee directors held an executive session following each of the regularly scheduled Board meetings, for a total of four meetings in fiscal 2024.

The F&A Committee has adopted a requirement that if an F&A Committee member wishes to serve on more than three audit committees of public companies, the member must obtain the approval of the F&A Committee, which will determine whether the director’s proposed service on the other audit committee(s) will detract from his/her performance on our F&A Committee. No F&A Committee member currently serves on more than three audit committees of public companies.

We believe it is desirable to maintain a mix of longer-tenured, experienced directors that have developed increased institutional knowledge of and valuable insight into the company and its operations and newer directors with fresh perspectives. In furtherance of this objective, the Board elected Ms. Ablo in 2022, Dr. Sikka and Mrs. Fairhead in fiscal 2020 and Mr. Moorman and Mr. Parrett in fiscal 2018, for a total of five directors added in the last seven fiscal years.

However, we do not impose director tenure limits or a mandatory retirement age. The Board has considered the perspectives of some stockholders regarding longer-tenured directors but believes that longer-serving directors with experience and institutional knowledge bring critical skills to the boardroom. In particular, the Board believes that given the large size of our company, the breadth of our product offerings and the international scope of our organization, longer-tenured directors are a significant strength of the Board. The Board also believes that longer-tenured directors have a better understanding of the challenges Oracle is facing and may be at times more comfortable challenging management, including our CEO and CTO. Accordingly, while director tenure is taken into consideration when making nomination decisions, the Board believes that imposing arbitrary limits on director tenure would deprive it of the valuable contributions of its most experienced members.

		2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders   31

Stockholder Engagement

We have a long tradition of engaging with our stockholders to solicit their views on a wide variety of issues, including corporate governance, environmental and social matters, executive compensation and other issues. Our directors and members of our Legal and Investor Relations teams engage with stockholders throughout the year. The feedback received from our stockholder engagement efforts is communicated to and considered by the Board, and, when appropriate, the Board implements changes in response to stockholder feedback.

Neither our Chairman nor our CEO participates in these meetings. We provide an open forum to our stockholders to discuss and comment on any aspects of our executive compensation program and any governance matters. The Board believes these meetings are important because they foster a relationship of accountability between the Board and our stockholders and help us better understand and respond to our stockholders’ priorities and perspectives.

In fiscal 2024, all members of our Compensation Committee held meetings with eight large institutional stockholders. Thus far in fiscal 2025, we have reached out to eight large institutional stockholders to set up meetings with members of the Compensation Committee and the full Compensation Committee has already held video conference meetings with four large institutional stockholders.

See page 5 for a summary of recent feedback we have received from our stockholders and the Board’s response to this feedback.

Human Capital Management

32   2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table provides information, as of September 16, 2024, the record date of the Annual Meeting, with respect to the beneficial ownership of Oracle common stock by: (1) each stockholder known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our common stock; (2) each director or nominee; (3) each executive officer named in the Summary Compensation Table (SCT); and (4) all current executive officers and directors as a group. Except as set forth below, the address of each stockholder is 2300 Oracle Way, Austin, Texas 78741.