Billionaire Larry Ellison, among world’s richest people, has bought a Florida resort

Billionaire Larry Ellison, who in April 2024 was ranked by Forbes as the world’s fifth richest person, a few months later bought the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, the wealthy Florida town south of Palm Beach, according to a statement released Aug. 8 by the resort.

The price Ellison paid for the oceanfront hotel was undisclosed but almost certainly hit $300 million and likely exceeded that amount, people familiar with the property told the Palm Beach Daily News.

Ellison, who co-founded software mammoth Oracle, was already familiar with Manalapan. In June 2022, he dropped $173 million of his fortune to buy an ocean-to-lake compound in the same town. That transaction was the largest residential sale ever in Florida.

So who is Larry Ellison? Here’s a quick look at the billionaire.

How rich is Larry Ellison?

On Aug. 8, 2024, the day the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa announced the sale to Ellison, Forbes estimated the 79-year-old’s net worth at $159.7 billion. The next day, Forbes' real-time ranking increased his wealth to $162.9 billion.

How did Larry Ellison get his fortune?

Ellison co-founded Oracle Corp. with two partners in Santa Clara, California, in 1977. Today, the software powerhouse bills itself as the world’s largest database-management company. Ellison spent 37 years as CEO and still holds the titles of chairman and chief technology officer at the company, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas. His ownership stake in the company is reportedly 42 percent.

In a June 2024 earnings call, one of Ellison's focuses was Oracle’s construction of data centers to accommodate the increasing demand for generative artificial intelligence. “We are literally building the smallest, most portable, most affordable cloud data centers all the way up to 200-megawatt data centers, ideal for training very large language models and keeping them up-to-date,” Ellison said during the call.

What about Larry Ellison’s Tesla ties?

Among Ellison’s most well-publicized stock purchases, he invested heavily in his billionaire friend Elon Musk’s Tesla and joined the company’s board in 2018. Ellison stepped off the board in August 2022 but still owns about 15 million shares in the electric carmaker, according to Forbes.

Did Larry Ellison go to college?

Yes, but he didn’t graduate. He dropped out of the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, according to Bloomberg and other published reports.

Where’s Larry Ellison from and where does he live?

A native New Yorker from The Bronx, Ellison has lived in the Chicago area and California. But he has said his primary home is on the island of Lanai in Hawaii. He reportedly paid $300 million for almost all of that island 10 years ago. He has also bought homes in Newport, Rhode Island; and California. He has been divorced four times.

What about Larry Ellison’s property in Palm Beach County?

Ellison's ownership entity bought his Manalapan estate — and part of nearby Bird Island in the Intracoastal Waterway — in June 2022 from a trust controlled by a fellow software billionaire, Jim Clark. In all, the estate and its island measure more than 22 acres.

The property straddles both sides of South Ocean Boulevard, with a tunnel beneath the roadway connecting the larger oceanfront parcel with the one that fronts the Intracoastal Waterway.

The residential purchase in Manalapan followed another one in Palm Beach County. In April 2021, a company linked to Ellison is paid a recorded $80 million for an oceanfront estate on 6½ acres in the Seminole Landing community near North Palm Beach. That estate is about 27 miles away from the property Manalapan estate.

What are Larry Ellison’s plans for the resort hotel he bought in Florida?

Ellison plans to make improvements to the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, according to the August 2024 statement announcing his purchase. But the statement did not provide any specifics.

One of several hospitality properties in Ellison's real estate portfolio, the 8-acre Palm resort and hotel at 100 S. Ocean Blvd. features seaside swimming pools, a 42,000-square-foot spa, 32,000 square feet of meeting space and several restaurants. Eau Palm Beach has consistently earned high ratings from travel magazines and hospitality organizations.

Ellison bought the Mediterranean-style, 300-plus room resort from the London-based Lewis Trust Group, which had owned the property since 2003. When the Lewis family bought the resort, it was a Ritz Carlton branded property but that relationship ended in 2013.

In addition to co-founding Oracle, Ellison has been involved in a variety of luxury hospitality ventures. His portfolio includes the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, Sensei Lanai, Nobu Ryokan Malibu, Nobu Hotel Palo Alto, the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, and Sensei Porcupine Creek.

What about Larry Ellison’s politics?

On May 20, 2022, The Washington Post and other outlets reported that Ellison, who has supported conservative Republican causes, took part in a call on Nov. 14, 2020, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and others “that focused on strategies for contesting the legitimacy of the vote” in the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential elections won by President Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump. The Post cited court documents and “a participant” as sources. The call, the Post reported, is “the first known example of a technology industry titan joining powerful figures in conservative politics, media and law to strategize about Trump’s post-loss options.” Others on the call included Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow and attorney James Bopp Jr., who represented True the Vote, a nonprofit group that that has “promoted disputed claims of widespread voter fraud,” according to the Post. Ellison and Oracle did not respond to the Post for a request for comment, the Post reported at the time.

But as of mid-April 2024, Ellison had not made single donation to Trump's 2024 campaign, CNBC reported.

What does Larry Ellison like to do in his spare time?

He races sailboats, flies planes, and plays tennis and guitar, according to a brief biographical sketch on the Oracle website. He also has owned number of yachts, including Musashi, a 2011 Feadship superyacht measuring 288 feet in length and accommodating 18 passengers.

What are Larry Ellison's charitable efforts?

Among his philanthropic initiatives, he gave $200 million to fund cancer-treatment research at the University of Southern California in 2016. The Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine in Los Angles is named for him.

Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz. Subscribe today to support our journalism.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Quick facts about billionaire Larry Ellison, who bought Florida resort