US$3.85 million pay day for Oracle CEO Ellison

Larry Ellison, the chief executive of software maker Oracle, earned US$3.85 million ($5.8 million) in salary and bonus for the fiscal year that ended May 31, according to documents filed last week.

Ellison, who began collecting a salary in September last year for the first time since 1999, was also given options of 900,000 shares of the company's stock to be purchased at US$12.60 a share within nine years.

Oracle's share price closed up 53USc, or 5 per cent, to US$10.46 in trading on the Nasdaq.

Ellison, the billionaire company founder and America's Cup racer, agreed in June 1999 to surrender a salary in exchange for 40 million stock options.

At that time, Ellison received an annual salary of US$1 million.