Safra Ada Catz is the executive vice chair of Oracle, and John T. Stankey is the chairman and CEO of AT&T, and both are best known for steering two of America’s biggest technology and telecom companies. Their paths look different.
Catz came from investment banking and law. Stankey climbed inside one phone company for four decades. This guide covers their early lives, careers, families, and wealth. Each claim comes from public records or filings, and unclear items are flagged. Let’s begin.
Safra Catz and John Stankey at a Glance
Safra Catz and John Stankey are two US business executives who run, or recently ran, giant public companies. Catz is the executive vice chair of Oracle. Stankey is the chairman and CEO of AT&T. They work in different industries. Oracle sells cloud and database software. AT&T sells wireless and fiber connections.
Quick Facts Bio Table
| Detail | Safra Catz | John Stankey |
| Full name | Safra Ada Catz | John T. Stankey |
| Age in 2026 | 64 (born December 1961) | 63 or 64 (born 1962, exact date not publicly disclosed) |
| Birthplace | Holon, Israel | California, raised in Los Angeles |
| Height | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
| Weight | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
| Spouse | Gal Tirosh (married 1997) | Shari Stankey |
| Children | Two sons | Not publicly disclosed |
| Net worth | About $3.1 billion (Forbes estimate, August 2025) | Not publicly confirmed, estimates vary |
| Profession | Executive vice chair of Oracle, former Oracle CEO | Chairman and CEO of AT&T |
| Social handles | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
Anything marked “not publicly disclosed” has no reliable public source.
Safra Catz and John Stankey Relationship: What the Record Shows
Are Safra Catz and John Stankey related? No. No public record shows a family tie, a marriage, or a business partnership between them. People search for the pair because both lead famous American companies. Both also touch the media world.
Catz joined the Paramount Skydance board in August 2025. Stankey once ran WarnerMedia. Those facts sit side by side, but they do not link the two people. No verified Oracle and AT&T partnership appears in the sources behind this article.
Safra Catz Age 2026 and John Stankey Age 2026
How old are they in 2026? Safra Catz is 64 today. She was born in December 1961, so she turns 65 this December. John Stankey was born in 1962. That makes him 63 or 64, depending on his birthday. His exact birth date is not publicly disclosed.
Early Lives, Parents, and Education
Catz was born in Israel and raised in Massachusetts, while Stankey grew up in Los Angeles. Both earned business degrees. Catz added a law degree on top.
Safra Catz Biography: Early Life, Parents, and Education
Safra Catz was born in Holon, Israel, in December 1961. Her parents were Jewish. Their names are not publicly disclosed. She has reportedly spoken about Romanian roots in her family. At age six, she moved to Brookline, Massachusetts. She graduated from Brookline High School.
Next came the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School in 1983. Three years later, she finished a law degree at Penn Law. That pairing of finance and law suits deal making. Her later career leaned on it heavily.
John Stankey Biography: Early Life, Parents, and Education
John Stankey grew up in Los Angeles. He is the youngest of three children. His father worked as an insurance underwriter. His mother stayed home. Their names are not publicly disclosed.
Stankey studied finance at Loyola Marymount University and graduated in 1985. He later earned a Master of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. That came in 1991, six years after his first job.
Safra Catz and John Stankey Education Compared
| Stage | Safra Catz | John Stankey |
| High school | Brookline High School | Not publicly disclosed |
| Undergraduate | Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1983) | Loyola Marymount University, finance (1985) |
| Graduate | Law degree, Penn Law (1986) | MBA, UCLA Anderson (1991) |
Think of two roads up the same mountain. Catz took the deals and law road. Stankey took the operations road.
Safra Catz’s Career: From Banking to Oracle
Safra Catz spent 13 years in investment banking, joined Oracle in 1999, and ran the company as CEO from 2014 to 2025. Her Oracle executive leadership spans more than 25 years.
Investment Banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Catz began her banking career in 1986. She worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, known as DLJ. She became a senior vice president in January 1994. She became a managing director in February 1997. Meanwhile, she reportedly wanted less travel. Larry Ellison, Oracle’s founder, recruited her. She left DLJ in March 1999.
How Safra Catz Rose Inside Oracle
- April 1999: joins Oracle as a senior vice president.
- Within months: becomes an executive vice president.
- October 2001: joins the board of directors.
- Early 2004: becomes president.
- November 2005 to September 2008: serves as chief financial officer.
- April 2011 to September 2014: serves as chief financial officer again.
Inside the company, she earned the nickname “the enforcer.” Colleagues saw her as the person who turned Ellison’s big ideas into working plans. She also had a reputation as a numbers person. She cut costs and centralized control.
Oracle Acquisition Strategy Under Catz
Catz is credited with driving Oracle’s 2005 takeover of PeopleSoft. That deal was worth about $10.3 billion. Later, Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. In 2016, it bought NetSuite for $9.4 billion. Shareholders sued over the NetSuite deal. In January 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court sided with Oracle’s directors, including Catz and Ellison.
Case Study: The PeopleSoft Deal. Oracle chased PeopleSoft for a long stretch. The price tag was huge. Catz pushed the deal through anyway. The result gave Oracle a bigger base of business software customers. The lesson is simple. Patient deal making can reshape a company.
From Joint CEO to Sole CEO
In September 2014, Oracle named Catz and Mark Hurd joint CEOs. Ellison moved to chairman and chief technology officer. Hurd took medical leave in September 2019. He died on October 18, 2019. In December 2019, Oracle said Catz would stay as the only CEO.
Under her, Oracle pushed hard into Oracle Cloud and cloud computing services. Company reporting says Oracle Cloud Infrastructure passed 100 regions in March 2025. Ellison later said she led Oracle as it became a hyperscale cloud powerhouse.
The Move to Executive Vice Chair
On September 22, 2025, Oracle named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as co CEOs. Catz became executive vice chair of the board. She stays on as a director. She described her bond with Ellison as a “26 year partnership.” That line captures her whole Oracle story.
John Stankey’s Career: From Pacific Bell to AT&T
John Stankey started at Pacific Bell in 1985 and became AT&T’s chief executive on July 1, 2020. His John Stankey career runs almost 40 years inside one company line.
From Entry Level Job to the Corner Office
| Year | Role |
| 1985 | Entry level job at Pacific Bell |
| 1996 | SBC Communications acquires Pacific Bell |
| 1998 | Executive vice president of industry markets |
| 2001 | President and CEO of SBC Southwest |
| 2005 | Chief information officer of the new AT&T |
| 2008 to 2012 | Chief technology officer |
| January 2012 | Chief strategy officer and group president |
| 2015 | CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group |
| 2018 | CEO of WarnerMedia |
| October 2019 | President and chief operating officer |
| July 1, 2020 | CEO of AT&T, succeeding Randall Stephenson |
| February 2025 | Elected chairman, keeps the CEO role |
The DirecTV and Time Warner Era
Stankey helped lead two huge media bets. AT&T bought DirecTV in 2015 for $48 billion, or $67 billion with debt. It bought Time Warner in 2018 for about $85 billion. Stankey then ran WarnerMedia, which owned Warner Bros., HBO, and CNN.
Later, AT&T reversed course. In 2021, it sold a 30 percent stake in DirecTV to TPG. That deal valued the business at $16.25 billion. In 2022, WarnerMedia merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery. One report quotes Stankey on DirecTV: “We certainly didn’t expect this.”
AT&T Business Transformation: Fiber and Wireless Networks
After those deals, Stankey refocused AT&T on broadband and wireless networks. The plan is simple. Build more fiber. Sell fiber and mobile service together. AT&T also partnered with AST SpaceMobile to bring phone service to remote areas by satellite. By 2025, AT&T reached 30 million fiber locations.
Case Study: The Lumen Fiber Acquisition. On February 2, 2026, AT&T closed a $5.75 billion cash deal for Lumen’s mass market fiber business. It added more than 1 million fiber customers. It also added over 4 million fiber locations in new metro areas, such as Denver, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. Stankey noted that Lumen’s fiber had only about 25 percent customer penetration. AT&T’s own fiber sat near 40 percent. The goal is 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030.
Outside Roles
Stankey served on the UPS board from 2014 to 2020. An older company bio also lists the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and a UCLA Anderson advisory board. Those older roles may have changed, so check current filings.
Marriages, Children, and Personal Wealth
Catz has been married to Gal Tirosh since 1997 and has two sons. Stankey is married to Shari Stankey, and most family details stay private. Catz’s wealth is estimated near $3.1 billion, while Stankey’s net worth is not publicly confirmed.
Safra Catz Husband and Family
Safra Catz married Gal Tirosh in 1997. He is a former soccer coach. The couple has two sons. Their names are not publicly disclosed. Catz lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She keeps her family life out of the news. That fits her wider reputation as a private executive who avoids the spotlight.
John Stankey Wife and Family
John Stankey’s wife is Shari Stankey. The couple has given a gift to Loyola Marymount University. Beyond that, details are thin. AT&T’s 2025 proxy filing noted that one of his daughters works at an AT&T subsidiary. The marriage date and the children’s names are not publicly disclosed.
Executive Compensation Compared
Pay is public for both leaders, because both lead listed companies. Figures below come from company proxy filings, as reported by public sources.
| Leader | Year | Reported total pay |
| Safra Catz | 2022 | About $138 million (stock awards drove this) |
| Safra Catz | Fiscal 2025 | About $1.1 million |
| Safra Catz | Fiscal 2026 | About $10.1 million |
| John Stankey | 2022 | About $22.9 million |
| John Stankey | 2023 | About $25.7 million |
| John Stankey | 2024 | About $26.5 million |
| John Stankey | 2025 | About $29.9 million |
Notice the gap in Catz’s numbers. Her 2022 total came mostly from stock awards. Oracle’s recent proxy shows much smaller figures after her role changed. Stankey’s pay has risen each year on this list.
Safra Catz Net Worth and John Stankey Net Worth
Forbes estimated Safra Catz’s net worth at $3.1 billion in August 2025. That made her a billionaire executive and ranked her 15th among America’s richest self made women. These estimates move with Oracle’s stock price.
John Stankey’s net worth is harder to pin down. No major wealth ranking confirms a figure. Some websites list about $31.2 million, but that number looks outdated. Reportedly, he beneficially owns around 1.2 million AT&T shares, according to proxy data. Treat any exact net worth claim for him as an estimate.
Achievements, Public Influence, and Verified Claims
Catz appears on major powerful women lists, and Stankey leads one of the largest telecom companies in the country. Both hold real influence in US corporate leadership.
Safra Catz Business Achievements
- Ranked 11th on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list in 2023.
- Ranked 17th on Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women list in 2024.
- Served on the HSBC board from 2008 to 2015.
- Served on the Walt Disney Company board from February 2018 to July 2024.
- Joined the Paramount Skydance board in August 2025.
- Serves as a trustee of In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit investor tied to national security.
- Appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2026.
- Served on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
John Stankey Professional Background and Influence
AT&T reported more than $122 billion in revenue in 2024. The company says it serves over 100 million US mobile and broadband customers. Stankey was elected chairman in February 2025, succeeding William Kennard. Under him, AT&T also grew its Connected Learning Centers from 37 to 50 in 2024.
Not everything went smoothly. In 2021, shareholders rejected AT&T’s executive pay plan in a nonbinding vote. That vote followed heavy job cuts and losses. Fair coverage includes both the wins and the criticism.
Verified Claims Versus Common Myths
| Claim | Status |
| Catz and Stankey are related or business partners | No public record supports it |
| Catz is still Oracle’s CEO | False. She became executive vice chair in September 2025 |
| Stankey still runs WarnerMedia | False. He stepped down from that role in 2020 |
| Catz was born in Israel | Confirmed by multiple biographies |
| Catz is worth about $3.1 billion | Forbes estimate from August 2025 |
| Stankey is worth about $31.2 million | Unverified and likely outdated |
Fast Facts
- Catz was born in Holon, Israel, and moved to Massachusetts at six.
- She studied at Wharton and earned a law degree from Penn Law.
- She joined Oracle in April 1999.
- She became Oracle’s CEO in 2014 and shared the job with Mark Hurd until 2019.
- Stankey earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Loyola Marymount.
- He started at Pacific Bell in 1985 at an entry level job.
- He has led AT&T as CEO since July 1, 2020.
- AT&T closed its $5.75 billion Lumen fiber deal in February 2026.
- Catz married Gal Tirosh in 1997.
- Neither leader publicly lists height, weight, or personal social handles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Safra Catz?
Safra Catz is the executive vice chair of Oracle and its former CEO. She joined the company in 1999 and led it from 2014 to 2025.
How old is Safra Catz in 2026?
She is 64 and turns 65 in December 2026. She was born in December 1961.
Who is Safra Catz’s husband?
Her husband is Gal Tirosh, a former soccer coach. They married in 1997.
Does Safra Catz have children?
Yes. She has two sons. Their names are not publicly disclosed.
What is Safra Catz’s net worth?
Forbes estimated it at $3.1 billion in August 2025. Estimates change with Oracle’s stock price.
Who is John Stankey?
John Stankey is the chairman and CEO of AT&T. He has been CEO since July 1, 2020, and chairman since February 2025.
How old is John Stankey in 2026?
He is 63 or 64. He was born in 1962, but his exact birth date is not publicly disclosed.
Who is John Stankey’s wife?
His wife is Shari Stankey. Few other details about her are public.
What is John Stankey’s education?
He earned a finance degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1985. He earned an MBA from UCLA in 1991.
What is John Stankey’s net worth?
It is not publicly confirmed. Estimates vary, and some are outdated.
Are Safra Catz and John Stankey connected?
No public record shows a personal or business link. They lead separate companies in different industries.
Conclusion
Safra Catz and John Stankey took different roads to the top. Catz moved from banking and law into Oracle’s biggest deals. Stankey rose from an entry level Pacific Bell job to the AT&T chairman’s seat. Their families stay mostly private.
Their pay and wealth are better documented. Use this guide as a starting point, and check company filings for updates. Facts about leaders change fast, so verified sources matter most.
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