Larry Ellison, co-founder and former CEO of Oracle, born in Utah, USA, was declared the world's richest man on September 10. A rapid increase in the shares of his information technology company boosted his fortune by $101 billion in just one day, reaching a total of $393 billion. This surge allowed him to surpass Elon Musk on the list of billionaires for one day.
The editorial office reports that Ellison met his biological mother for the first time at the age of 48. He was born on August 17, 1944, in New York. His mother, 19-year-old Florence Spellman, was an unmarried Jewish girl. Before the child was born, his father – an Air Force pilot – was deployed abroad. Realizing she couldn't raise her son alone, Florence gave him to her sister and brother-in-law living in Chicago. Ellison only learned he was adopted at the age of 12, and met his biological mother for the first time at 48.
He is an aviation enthusiast and inherited this interest from his father. As a licensed pilot, he owns various aircraft. His private fleet even includes military planes — an Italian-made SIAI-Marchetti S.211 and a Soviet-made MiG-29, which he keeps in his hangar despite a ban on its import by US authorities. Ellison once filed a lawsuit against a night landing ban at San Jose airport, proving that his Gulfstream V aircraft complied with regulations, but the general ban remained in effect.
Ellison also shows great interest in travel and sailing. In 2004, the 138-meter “Rising Sun” yacht was built for him, and at that time, it was one of the world's largest private yachts. He later sold that vessel and bought the smaller, yet luxurious, “Musashi” yacht. One of the features of this yacht is the presence of a basketball court on board. According to reports, the billionaire often plays basketball alone and hires a special person to retrieve balls from the sea. His Oracle Team won the America's Cup regatta in 2010 and 2013. Ellison himself participated as captain of the “Sayonara” yacht in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race. Despite a strong storm, his team achieved first place.
In his personal life, Ellison has been married six times. His marriage to his first wife, Adda Quinn, lasted from 1967 to 1974. He then married Nancy Wheeler Jenkins in a marriage that lasted two years. During their divorce, Ellison bought future Oracle company shares from her for just $500. The mother of the billionaire's children was his former secretary, Barbra Boothe; the couple had a son, David, and a daughter, Megan, during their three-year marriage. Ellison then remained out of official relationships for a long time, marrying writer Melanie Craft in 2003. The wedding ceremony was officiated by US Congressman Tom Lantos, and the photographer was Steve Jobs.
The billionaire's fifth wife was American-Ukrainian model Nikita Kahn, who was 47 years his junior. Their six-year relationship ended in a short-lived marriage, followed by a four-year divorce process. In 2024, information was released about Ellison's newly chosen girlfriend — Jolyn (Keren Zhu) from China, a graduate of the University of Michigan.