Ellison reverses $115 million Harvard donation

The decision comes the same week Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett gifted the bulk of his $44 billion fortune to charity and just after Microsoft founder Bill Gates said he would ease out of his day-to-day role at the company to focus on philanthropy.

Larry Ellison

Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne said Ellison reconsidered his decision to fund a program at Harvard to study the quality of governmental health care problems worldwide because Summers' participation was critical.

Harvard officials were not immediately available for comment.

Summers sparked controversy last year when he said innate differences between men and women may help explain why so few women work in the academic sciences, and he became embroiled in several feuds with faculty members during his time as president. He announced his resignation in February.

"In light of Summers' resignation, Larry Ellison has decided to reconsider his decision," Wynne said. "There was never a formal agreement, but it had been talked about."

Instead, Ellison will announce a different contribution within the next several weeks, though Wynne said he did not have details about the size of the donation or the recipient.

Oracle also said earlier this week that Ellison would give $100 million to the Ellison Medical Foundation as part of a settlement to a shareholder lawsuit charging him with insider trading.