Rubbish Check
CNBC Top News · 12 September 2026
source“Larry Ellison nixes plan to offload up to $7.5 billion worth of Oracle stock”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates CNBC's headline that Larry Ellison "nixes plan to offload up to $7.5 billion worth of Oracle stock" a 2/10 because Oracle's own press release confirms the cancellation, the $7.5 billion figure, and that zero shares were ever sold under the plan.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline is a faithful, unembellished readout of Oracle's own statement, down to the exact dollar figure and the fact that no shares changed hands. The only nudge away from a pure R1 is that the headline omits the one-day reversal timeline, which is genuinely newsworthy context buried a paragraph down.
What actually happened
Oracle disclosed on Sept. 11, 2026 that founder Larry Ellison had adopted a 10b5-1 trading plan allowing him to sell up to 50 million shares by Oct. 24. A day later, Oracle announced Ellison had cancelled that plan entirely, with no shares sold under it and no other sale plans in place.
Key facts
- Plan covered up to 50 million shares, or $7.5 billion at the current share price; zero shares were sold before cancellation, per Oracle's own release.
- The plan was adopted June 22 and set to expire Oct. 24; the cancellation came just one day after the plan's existence was disclosed publicly.
- Ellison still controls more than 40% of Oracle.
- Oracle stock has dropped roughly 23% in 2026, a backdrop the AI-infrastructure pivot and its debt load help explain.
What to watch for
- Whether Ellison files a new 10b5-1 plan later, since executives often re-adopt these after a cooling-off period; watch subsequent SEC filings.
- Any commentary tying the reversal to Oracle's share-price slide or its debt load, which the article flags but doesn't directly link to Ellison's decision.
- How the Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery deal, which Ellison also finances, factors into his personal liquidity needs going forward.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
