RightNow and the great Oracle hunt

Beverley Head
Friday, 25 November 2011 10:43

Greg Gianforte crossed his personal financial finish line in 1994 when he sold his company Brightwork to McAfee. So the $US1.5 billion planned sale of RightNow, the software company he set up in 1997, to Oracle isn't just about the money.

Nor is it about retirement for the 50 year old Montana based chief executive. He tried that for six months after he sold Brightwork only to realise; 'I like to fish but didn't want to end up with a tombstone saying 'he caught a lot of fish'.'

A couple of years ago he told me that; 'I don't think we are created to sit idle. My faith is very important and I can't find evidence in the Bible where anyone retires. Noah was about 120 when he built the Ark.'

Gianforte's approach to animals is far more straightforward. He kills and eats them, and in fact only serves game that he has killed to visitors to his home. Gianforte's only eat what you kill theme probably resonated for Larry Ellison, the Oracle boss who is now buying the business.

Larry might however have been wise to read Gianforte's personal account of hunting a bear (complete with extraordinary photos) before he embarked on negotiations.

Gianforte however probably likes starting and running businesses, creating assets, developing value just about as much as he likes hunting. About to be swallowed by much bigger fish Oracle, Gianforte's opaque about his future in the company. 'My philosophy toward work is about creating value and I'll stay as long as I think I'm doing that.

'We've built an asset we are very proud of that does a lot of good things for a lot of people and created challenging and worthwhile jobs for people and I'd like to see that asset grow whatever environment it's in.'

RightNow is a cloud computer company and sells the tools to allow companies to better manage the customer experience. It has just over  1,000 employees, revenues of around $US226 million and is growing above 20 per cent a year, is profitable and cash flow positive, has $US250 million cash on the balance sheet, and some debt (although less than $US250 million).