The owner of the MiG-29 and the winner of the regattas. 5 facts about Larry Ellison, the second billionaire on the list

Larry Ellison, co-founder and former CEO of Oracle Corporation, became the richest man in the world on September 10. After a sharp increase in the shares of the IT company, his personal fortune immediately increased by $ 101 billion per day and reached $ 393 billion, so he was able to dislodge Elon Musk from the first line of the rating for one day. Allison leads a breakneck lifestyle as a billionaire, owns his own fighter jet and a Japanese palace, and at the same time he was raised in a foster family. What facts are filled with his biography — in the material of Izvestia.

Fact 1. I met my mother at the age of 48

Larry Ellison was born on August 17, 1944 in New York City. His mother, Florence Spellman, was an unmarried 19-year-old Jewish girl. She gave birth to a son by an Air Force pilot who was sent to serve outside the country even before she found out about her pregnancy. When the boy was nine months old, he contracted pneumonia. Spellman realized that she would not be able to raise him on her own, and handed him over to her sister and her husband, who lived in Chicago.

Uncle and aunt officially adopted their nephew and gave him their last name Allison. It comes from the name of Ellis Island in New York, which used to serve as a reception point for migrants and where his adoptive father came from the Russian Empire in 1905. Larry found out that he was adopted when he was 12. It was only at the age of 48 that he met his birth mother for the first time.

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The decision was made against the background of the adoption of the budget law.

• The boy's relationship with his new father did not work out, there were often quarrels between them. At the same time, he got along well with his aunt. When Allison graduated from the second year of medical school, but had not yet passed the final exam, she died suddenly. Because of this, Larry had to leave the university. Later, he decided to change his specialty and became interested in programming, which was gaining popularity. This was the beginning of his career in IT, which led to the founding of Oracle, one of the most expensive companies in history.

Fact 2. Owns a MiG-29 fighter jet

Allison followed in the footsteps of his biological father and also became a licensed pilot. He has his own fleet, which even includes military aircraft. It is well known that Ellison owns an Italian SIAI-Marchetti S aircraft.211. He used it to conduct air combat training in the Pacific Ocean with his son David. Ellison also claimed that he had bought a Soviet MiG-29 fighter, but was unable to bring it into the United States due to government demands. According to some reports, the billionaire still keeps the plane in his own hangar.

• Ellison's love of flying once led to lawsuits with the authorities. He was seeking the right to land his Gulfstream V aircraft at San Jose Airport at night. According to the current rules, it is forbidden to do this to aircraft with a maximum weight over 34 tons, so as not to disturb the noise of local residents. Ellison tried to prove that his plane did not violate the rules, and initiated a lawsuit. As a result, the claims against him were dropped, but the curfew at the airport remained.

Fact 3. He is a passionate yachtsman

• As befits a true billionaire, Allison is also passionate about yachts. In 2004, the 138-meter yacht Rising Sun was built for him, which at that time was the third largest private vessel. Later, he sold the yacht and preferred a shorter, but no less luxurious, Musashi. Its special feature is the presence of its own basketball court, where Allison prefers to play alone. At the same time, he specifically hires a man who follows the yacht and catches basketballs if they fall into the water.

• Allison loves not only motor yachts, but also sailing. He owns his own Oracle Team, which participated in the prestigious America's Cup regatta, the oldest international competition in any sport, held since 1851. As an owner, Ellison won the competition in 2010 and 2013, with the latter being an unprecedented success. In competitions where it is necessary to bypass the opposing team nine times, Oracle Team was fined two points due to violations of the rules. She lost to the New Zealand team with a score of 1:8, but then won eight races in a row and became the champion.

• Ellison himself sometimes goes to sea, and at the risk of his life. In 1998, he took part in the race between Sydney and Hobart in Australia. Ellison was the captain of the yacht Sayonara, which also included Lachlan Murdoch, the son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch. On the second day of the regatta, a strong storm began with wind gusts up to 150 km/h. Then five ships sank, and six athletes died. However, Ellison's yacht was able to stay on course and eventually won.

Fact 4. He is fond of Japan

• The names of the Ellison yachts mentioned above are somehow connected with Japan, and this is not an accident. One day, he made a business trip to Kyoto and was amazed by the culture of that country. Ellison confessed that he fell in love with everything in Japan, from cuisine and music to architecture and attitude to work. However, he said that when he visited Europe after that, he was disappointed with what he saw.

Ellison's love for Japan finds different reflections. He not only makes references to it in the names of yachts, but also built his mansion in California in the style of a Japanese imperial palace of the XVI century. The 93,000 square meter estate, worth $200 million, has ponds with carp, sakura trees, and a separate tea house.

• Allison also prefers Japanese sports cars. One day, he complained that fires were happening too often in his Ferrari, and he switched to an Acura car. The billionaire liked the sports car so much that he began buying new models several times a year, after which he gave them to friends and the best employees of his company.

Fact 5. He was married six times.

• Ellison has been married six times in his 81-year life. He married Adda Quinn for the first time back in 1967. They lived together for seven years. Soon, the future billionaire met Nancy Wheeler Jenkins, but their marriage lasted even less — only two years. During the divorce, Ellison bought out her shares in the future Oracle company from his ex-wife for just $500.

The only marriage in which Ellison had children was with his secretary, Barbara Booth. Although they were married for only three years, during that time they had a son, David, and a daughter, Megan. After the divorce, Ellison did not tie the knot for 17 years, until he met the writer Melanie Kraft. Their wedding in 2003 became an event in a secular society. The ceremony for the couple was hosted by Congressman Tom Lantos, and their wedding photographer was Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Ellison's fifth wife was American-Ukrainian model Nikita Kahn (birth name — Irina Osipova), with whom he had an age difference of 47 years. They dated for six years, and the billionaire even named his restaurant after her. However, their official marriage did not last very long, and the divorce process took four years.

• In 2024, there were rumors that Allison had a new girlfriend named Jolene. It turned out that this is the name of Keren Zhu, a graduate of the University of Michigan from China, who is 47 years younger than Ellison. Their marriage was not officially advertised, but all signs indicate that they did get married. So, Zhu is registered to vote in the same 33-room Florida estate as Allison, and their registration date is the same.