The Real Estate Behind The Richest Men And Women In The World Part 5: Larry Ellison
Oracle co-founder and former CEO Larry Ellison falls within the top 10 richest people in the world and has an enormous net worth of $49.3B and an impressive real estate portfolio to match. In fact, impressive may be an understatement as Larry has been called the "nation's most avid trophy-home buyer." His holdings are too numerous to discuss each in detail, but check out Bisnow's top five and we think you'll understand the title.
When it comes to extravagance it doesn't get much better than buying your own island, and that's exactly what Ellison did. In 2012 Ellison shelled out a reported $500M to buy 98% of Lanai Island—the sixth-largest Hawaiian island, leaving 2% for the State of Hawaii. Ellison hopes to turn the 89,600-acre island into an economically viable, 100% green community—and it would be the first.
Ellison owns many, many homes, but this one is somewhat different from the rest. After buying the 23-acre estate he built a compound modeled after a 16th-century Japanese emperor's palace, complete with a man-made 2.3-acre lake. The property is estimated to have cost from $70M to $110M and took nine years to design and build.
Ellison owns at least two dozen properties in Malibu, CA, and he's taken over large chunks of the billionaire-favored Carbon Beach, owning 10 houses on the stretch. In 2004 and 2005 Ellison spent more than $180M picking up homes in Malibu, while in 2013 he bought producer Jerry Bruckheimer's house for $18M.
It seems modeling his home after a feudal Japanese emperor's palace wasn't enough, so Ellison bought a historic garden villa in Kyoto, Japan, on the temple grounds of Nanzenji. While the price he paid is unknown, we do know it wasn't cheap—the property was reportedly listed for $86M. Ellison told CNBC he intends to turn the property into a museum to house his Japanese art.
In 2011 Ellison threw down $42.9M for the 249-acre Porcupine Creek Estate and private golf course in Rancho Mirage, CA. The club includes a main house with no less than 16 bedrooms along with a few separate guest houses. Ellison was able to snag the property after the divorce and bankruptcy of its previous owners, Yellowstone Club founders Edra and Tim Blixseth.
