Raymond J. Lane (born December 26, 1946) is an American business executive and strategist specializing in technology and finance. Lane is best known for assisting corporations with

technology strategy Technology strategy (information technology strategy or IT strategy) is the overall plan which consists of objectives, principles and tactics relating to use of technologies within a particular organization. Such strategies primarily focus on the ...

organizational development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are ...

team building Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business ...

, and sales and growth management. Lane led a " go to market" overhaul of

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

, which led to an increase in sales and

stock price A share price is the price of a single share of a number of saleable equity shares of a company. In layman's terms, the stock price is the highest amount someone is willing to pay for the stock, or the lowest amount that it can be bought for. B ...

in the 1990s. He is cited as being the catalyst for "Oracle's success, ‘past, present and future.’" Lane is a partner emeritus at

Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...

, a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firm in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Count ...

. He managed

investments Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

and held board membership in

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

companies, including the development of enterprise technology and

alternative energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

Early life and education

Raymond Jay Lane was born on December 26, 1946, in

McKeesport, Pennsylvania McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. I ...

, near Pittsburgh. Lane grew up in rural western Pennsylvania where his father was employed as a

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and structural /bu ...

for steel production plants. Lane was heavily influenced by his father, who had emerged from the

Depression-era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

steel business as the first member of his family to go to college, graduating from

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People * Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie *Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...

as a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

. Lane attended public schools, graduating from Moon High School in 1964. Wishing to follow in his father's footsteps, Lane first pursued a collegiate career in

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

(WVU). He later changed his major and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in mathematics in 1968.

Career

IBM

Shortly after graduating, Lane was recruited to IBM's

data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of '' information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by ...

division for a sales position. In 1969, Lane was drafted to the U.S. Army, assigned to the

1st Infantry Division 1st Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) *1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) *1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoured Division (Australi ...

Fort Riley, Kansas Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in G ...

. Because of his computer knowledge, he was made a

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

responsible for logistical computer systems. He completed two years of military service and resumed his career in 1971 at IBM, achieving top sales awards for three years and being promoted to a

product manager A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...

responsible for large

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

and

storage systems Storage may refer to: Goods Containers * Dry cask storage, for storing high-level radioactive waste * Food storage * Intermodal container, cargo shipping * Storage tank Facilities * Garage (residential), a storage space normally used to store ca ...

in one of IBM's largest regions.

EDS

After eight years with IBM, Lane was recruited by

Electronic Data Systems Electronic all cash BSN acc: 1311729000110205 Data Systems (EDS) was an American multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas which was founded in 1962 by Ross Perot. The company was a subs ...

(EDS), led at the time by

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...

. He was handed responsibility for a new division that provided services to large manufacturers, distributors, and retail and transportation companies. Lane ran the nascent division for nearly four years.

Booz Allen Hamilton

In 1981 Lane accepted a principal position with

Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., wit ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. At Booz Allen, he helped develop

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

strategies. Lane became a partner in three years and a

senior partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as "equity partners". T ...

by 1986. He led the development in the late 1980s of became known as Information Systems Group, one of two functional practices, and four industry practices that were the firm's primary organization. He sat on the firm's executive committee and board of directors from 1987 to 1992.

Oracle

In 1992, Lane was recruited by

to turn around the firm's sales, service, consulting and marketing, and named president of Oracle USA in June. Oracle, suffering from rapid growth in the late '80s without checks and balances on its customer practices, was also falling behind technologically. The rapid turnaround in the mid-90s, fueled by a new database technology, Oracle 7, and by Lane's organization of sales and services at the company, led to the rise of Oracle's business applications division.

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

founder

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...

recalled that "Larry told me that 15 minutes into the meeting, he knew Ray was the only guy he had met who was near smart enough to run Oracle." In 1996, Lane was named the president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of Oracle. Under his leadership, along with

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

and Jeff Henley, Oracle expanded from 7,500 to 40,000 employees, defeating its main database rivals

Sybase Sybase, Inc. was an enterprise software and services company. The company produced software to manage and analyze information in relational databases, with facilities located in California and Massachusetts. Sybase was acquired by SAP in 2010; ...

and

Informix IBM Informix is a product family within IBM's Information Management division that is centered on several relational database management system (RDBMS) offerings. The Informix products were originally developed by Informix Corporation, whose ...

, to become the leader in the database industry while building major businesses in ERP applications and consulting. In mid-2000, Lane suddenly left the company, leading to speculation Oracle's business needs had outgrown him.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

In 2000, Lane accepted a position with

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...

. Lane's work at KPCB centered on enterprise technology and alternative energy. As of 2013 Lane became partner emeritus of Kleiner Perkins. He serves as chairman of the board of

Elance Upwork Global Inc., formerly Elance-oDesk, is an American freelancing platform headquartered in Santa Clara and San Francisco, California. The company was formed in 2013 as Elance-oDesk, after the merger of Elance Inc. and oDesk Corp. The merg ...

, an online staffing platform, and of

Aquion Energy Aquion Energy was a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.-based company that manufactured sodium ion batteries ( salt water batteries) and electricity storage systems. The company claimed to provide a low-cost way to store large amounts of ...

HP

Lane served as non-executive chairman on Hewlett-Packard's board of directors from 2010 to 2011, and as

executive chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

from 2011 to 2013. Lane restructured the board to add seven new directors, replaced the short-tenured CEO Leo Apotheker, and led the placement of

Meg Whitman Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is the US ambassador to Kenya, an American business executive and former gubernatorial candidate for California. She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and General Motors. Whitman was previously ...

as CEO. Lane was chairman when HP decided to acquire

Autonomy Corporation HP Autonomy, previously Autonomy Corporation PLC, was an enterprise software company which was merged with Micro Focus in 2017. It was founded in Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1996. Autonomy was acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in October 2 ...

, a controversial acquisition that led him to step down as chairman, but remain on the board of directors.

GreatPoint Ventures

Lane currently serves as a Managing Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, a venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Tax dispute

In 2013, it was reported that Lane was involved in a personal tax dispute. The case stemmed from a tax year 2000 audit that reviewed an investment in a tax strategy used by Lane's advisors called POPS (Partnership Option Portfolio Securities) to offset a minority of Lane's income. Lane agreed to settle in excess of $100 million. On January 3, 2014, Lane filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, and BDO Seidman, LLP alleging that he had suffered damage as a result of their having designed an allegedly "fraudulent" tax shelter.

Personal life and philanthropy

Lane has three children, Kristi, Kelley, and Kari, with his first wife, Donna. He is married to Stephanie (Herle) Lane, with whom he has two children, Raymond Jay Lane III ("RJay") and Catherine Victoria ("Tori"). Lane's philanthropic interests include work in higher education, the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

, and

Cancer Research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate a ...

. Lane serves as the chairman of the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organ ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. He led the institution's capital campaign and efforts to establish a

campus in 2002. In 2010, the Lanes funded the Carnegie Mellon's Computational Biology program (The Lane Center for Computational Biology), which is the

Computational Biology Department The Computational Biology Department (CBD) is a division within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Gates-Hillman Center. Established in 2007 by Robert F ...

, one of six degree-granting departments in the School of Computer Science. In 2015, th
Lane Center for Computational Cancer Research
was established within the department. Lane also funded a professorship chair in his father's name held by Robert F. Murphy (computational biologist). Additionally, he is a benefactor to his alma mater, West Virginia University, where he sits on its

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

. He chaired a WVU capital campaign in the early 2000s. In September 2007, the Lanes made a $5 million contribution to the university's Computer Science and Electrical Engineering programs, for which the university honored them by naming the department The Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Lane has served as vice chairman of Special Olympics International for several years. In October 2011, Ray and Stephanie funded the organization's international expansion project, Unify, which unites school age youth with intellectual disabilities with their healthy counterparts. Ray and Stephanie Lane are contributors to the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more tha ...

, and sponsor functions to raise additional funds. The Lanes initiated and funded the Stephanie H. Lane Cancer Research Network, a central service in the state of California to help cancer patients get information and treatment. As of 2019, Lane is an advisor for Inxeption, a California-based technology platform.

Recognition

TechAmerica TechAmerica is a United States technology trade association. It was formed from the merger of AeA (formerly known as the America Electronics Association), the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Government Electronics & Information Techno ...

, "David Packard Lifetime Medal of Achievement," 2011. * Inducted into West Virginia University's Business Hall of Fame (2003) Academy of Distinguished Alumni (2004) and the Order of the Vandalia (2005). * Smithsonian Leadership Award for Collaborative Innovation, 2001. *

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and co ...

Man of the Year, 2000. * Honorary Ph.D.'s, West Virginia University,

Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, and accounting. The university offers s ...

. * West Virginia University, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. * Carnegie Mellon, Lane Center for Computational Cancer Research.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Raymond J. 1946 births Living people American computer businesspeople Carnegie Mellon University trustees Booz Allen Hamilton people West Virginia University alumni Kleiner Perkins people