NetSuite went public under the one-letter ticker N, with Larry Ellison's money behind it. Its software handled a company's accounting, orders, inventory and customer records in one system, hosted on NetSuite's servers and sold by subscription. In 2007, enterprise software still mostly meant installing large packages on company computers. NetSuite was one of the first to show that a business's core financial system could live in the cloud.

An Oracle Veteran Leaves Home

Evan Goldberg, a former Oracle executive, founded the company in 1998 with backing from Larry Ellison. The bet was that small and midsize businesses would trade the cost and hassle of installed software for one integrated online service. NetSuite spent years building its product while the market for cloud software slowly matured. Ellison's backing gave the young company money and credibility while it waited.

Back Home to Oracle

NetSuite priced its IPO at $26 a share in December 2007 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock fell hard in the 2008 crash. Then cloud software won acceptance, and growth returned. By 2016 NetSuite served thousands of midsize businesses. That year Oracle bought NetSuite for about $9.3 billion, and the deal made Oracle a major player in cloud software for running a business.

Cover: Study of Clouds, William Turner. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a study of clouds (cloud computing).