Larry Ellison Marries for the Fifth Time: The Billionaire Who Refuses to Age

At 81 years old, Larry Ellison has just reached a new milestone in his already extraordinary life. On September 10, 2025, according to the Bloomberg index, he officially surpassed Elon Musk to become the world’s richest man, with an estimated fortune of $393 billion. That day, his wealth increased by over $100 billion in just a few hours. But beyond this fluctuating ranking, it’s his remarkable journey and unrestrained lifestyle that fascinate: an abandoned orphan turned Silicon Valley magnate, husband of five women, passionate athlete, and influential political figure. How did this man build a tech empire while refusing to conform to social expectations?

From the Bronx to Silicon Valley: the rise of an orphan turned tech emperor

Born in 1944 in the Bronx, New York, to a 19-year-old single mother, Larry Ellison had a tough start. Abandoned by his biological mother and raised by an aunt in Chicago, he grew up in a modest family where his adoptive father worked as a government clerk. Despite being admitted to the University of Illinois, he dropped out after his adoptive mother died, then quickly left the University of Chicago after one semester.

What could have been a downward social trajectory took a decisive turn when Ellison moved to California in the 1970s. Drawn by Berkeley’s creative and countercultural atmosphere, he found a job at Ampex Corporation, a company specializing in audiovisual data processing. There, he participated in a revolutionary project: designing a database system for the CIA, called “Oracle.” This experience marked the beginning of his empire.

In 1977, at age 32, Ellison co-founded Software Development Laboratories with Bob Miner and Ed Oates, investing $1,200 of his own savings. The trio’s brilliant strategy: commercialize the relational database system they developed. By 1986, Oracle went public on NASDAQ and quickly became a rising star in enterprise software. For over forty years, Ellison remained the beating heart of the company, holding nearly all executive roles until gradually transitioning to an executive chairman role in 2014.

Oracle in the face of AI: how an “old” company finds its youth

Although Oracle long dominated the database market, the company seemed caught off guard by the rise of cloud computing and competition from Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. However, Ellison and his team quickly understood where the next major challenge lay: AI infrastructure.

Summer 2025 saw Oracle announce a massive restructuring program, laying off several thousand employees from traditional software and hardware departments. Simultaneously, the company significantly increased investments in data centers and AI infrastructure. This strategy proved successful: in September 2025, Oracle announced a series of contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars, including a $300 billion five-year partnership with OpenAI. The announcement caused a spectacular surge in the stock price: up more than 40% in a single day, the strongest increase since 1992.

Industry observers describe this transformation as a “late renaissance”: Oracle shifting from “aging software provider” to “dark horse of AI infrastructure.” This strategic agility is Ellison’s signature: recognizing change and making bold bets.

The mysterious wife and the art of living without limits

Few aspects of Ellison’s life do not fuel public discussion, especially his tumultuous personal life. The billionaire married four times before 2024, when he once again surprised everyone by quietly marrying Jolin Zhu. This news emerged after discovering a University of Michigan document mentioning “Larry Ellison and his wife Jolin” in a joint donation. Jolin Zhu, born in Shenyang, China, and a University of Michigan graduate, is 47 years younger than him. Through this fifth marriage, Ellison continues to defy social conventions, just as he has throughout his career.

Beyond his successive marriages, Ellison cultivates an image of extreme youthfulness. At 81, he is described as “twenty years younger than his peers.” His secret? Iron discipline. Between 1990 and 2000, according to a former executive of one of his companies, he dedicated several hours daily to exercise, limiting his intake to water and green tea, meticulously controlling his diet.

This discipline extends to his hobbies, which are anything but ordinary. Owner of 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, possessor of several luxury residences in California, and first-class yachts, Ellison remains obsessed with water and wind. Although he nearly died surfing in 1992, this experience did not discourage him. On the contrary, he channeled this passion into sailing. In 2013, the Oracle Team USA he supports won the America’s Cup after a spectacular comeback, one of the greatest in sailing history.

In 2018, he founded SailGP, an international high-speed catamaran racing series, attracting prestigious investors like actress Anne Hathaway and football star Kylian Mbappé. Tennis is another major passion: he revitalized the Indian Wells tournament in California, elevating it to “fifth Grand Slam” status. For Ellison, these sporting adventures are not distractions; they embody his life philosophy: refusing aging decline and pushing the limits of what’s possible.

Extended empire: when the son takes the torch in Hollywood

Ellison’s wealth far exceeds his personal life, encompassing a growing family empire. His son, David Ellison, acquired Paramount Global—the parent company of CBS and MTV—for $8 billion in 2023, with $6 billion financed by the Ellison family. This transaction symbolizes dynastic expansion: a father dominating Silicon Valley, a son conquering Hollywood. Together, they are building a conglomerate spanning technology and entertainment.

In the political arena, Ellison remains a major player. A long-time supporter of the Republican Party, he generously funds political campaigns. In 2015, he supported Marco Rubio’s presidential bid; in 2022, he donated $15 million to the super PAC of South Carolina senator Tim Scott. In January 2025, he appeared at the White House alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to announce the construction of a $500 billion global AI data center network, positioning Oracle at the heart of this critical infrastructure. It’s both a strategic move and a political statement.

Ellison’s philanthropy: a charity without conformity

In 2010, Ellison signed the “Giving Pledge,” committing to donate at least 95% of his fortune to philanthropic causes. However, unlike Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, he refuses collective initiatives. In an interview with the New York Times, he said he “cherishes his solitude and does not want to be influenced by others’ ideas.”

In 2016, he donated $200 million to the University of Southern California to establish an anti-cancer research center. More recently, he transferred a significant portion of his wealth to the Ellison Institute of Technology, founded in collaboration with Oxford University, to address major challenges: medical innovations, sustainable agricultural systems, clean energy. On social media, he expressed his vision: “We must create a new generation of life-saving drugs, build low-cost agricultural systems, and develop clean, efficient energies.”

His philanthropy reflects his personality: deeply idiosyncratic, rejecting established norms, preferring to shape a future that resembles him.

Conclusion: the refusal to disappear

At 81, Larry Ellison has finally reached the top: being the richest in the world, at least temporarily. But what is even more fascinating is his trajectory. From a Bronx orphan to a tech magnate, from a seemingly aging company to a dominant force in AI infrastructure, from a first marriage to a fifth wife 47 years his junior, Ellison embodies a resolute refusal to decline.

He remains the “prodigal son” of Silicon Valley: stubborn, competitive, never willing to give up. Whether the throne of the world’s richest changes hands tomorrow, Ellison has already proven something more important: in an era where AI is redefining the world, the legend of tech giants is not over. It’s just beginning again.