Insight - Ellison's backing helps Kurian's star to rise at Oracle

By Nadia Damouni NEW YORK (Reuters) - Every Tuesday and Wednesday at around 2 pm, Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corp, gathers his lieutenants in the board room on the top floor of the software giant's headquarters in Redwood City, California to hear engineers present new products and strategies. Several people who have attended the meetings over the years said all the top Oracle executives have assigned seats – including Ellison himself, the two co-CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd, a