Oracle CEO Larry Ellison Buys Huge Portion Of Paradise

If you've ever watched the MTV show Cribs, you may have seen the island Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson owns. It's a sweet island, don't get me wrong, but Branson has just been greatly outdone by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Ellison has reportedly purchased most of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for an undisclosed sum of money.

How much of the island did Ellison purchase? He now owns 98% to be exact. The island has 141 square miles of land and is Hawaii's sixth largest island by acreage. The former owner was billionaire David Murdoch, who owned the land since 1985. Apparently, Murdoch sold the land because he was losing between $18 and $25 million each year on the island. If you're wondering, the state of Hawaii owns the other 2% of the island.

I wonder what the state will do with that other 2%. Knowing how states operate it's probably an easement of some sort. While there is no official word on how much Ellison paid for the massive chunk of tropical paradise, scuttlebutt says the price was between $500 million and $600 million. Interestingly Ellison was rumored to be in a bidding war with Bill Gates to purchase the island. I can understand why Gates would want the island; he and his wife were married there. Gates rented the whole island for his wedding in 1994. Apparently, Ellison already has a home on the island.

[via CNET]