Oracle boosts compensation of billionaire CEO Ellison

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks at the company's headquarters in Redwood City, California June 6, 2012.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Technology company Oracle Corp increased billionaire CEO Larry Ellison's compensation for last year by 24 percent.

Ellison, one of the most highly paid chief executive officers in the United States, and the world's sixth-richest man, according to Forbes, received total compensation for the year ended May 31 of $96.2 million, almost all of it in stock options. That compared with 77.6 million in the prior year.

His compensation rose during a period in which the company's shares fell 23 percent, underperforming the Nasdaq Composite Index, which was little changed during the same period.

Company spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger declined comment on the compensation package, which was disclosed in an annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The board's executive compensation committee said in that disclosure that its long-standing approach has been to "provide total compensation opportunities that are significantly above the average of our peer group."

That group includes Apple Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, International Business Machines Corp and Microsoft Corp.

Ellison, 68, has been CEO since he co-founded the company 35 years ago, making him the longest-running chief executive at a major Silicon Valley firm.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle; editing by Carol Bishopric)