I agree with most of your post but the last bit is really a non-sequitur. There is no relationship between Oracle fortunes and Californian weather; if there ever was, it has definitely not been a factor for 20 years. What matters is what they buy and how they repackage it. Mainframes are not even on their map, really. Their HQ in California was basically an empty white elephant for years, I believe most of their programmers are in other (lower-cost) countries by now.