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Billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison owns a $38 million private jet and previusly owned a $490 million megayacht
Tech tycoon Larry Ellison once waged a relentless two-year legal battle against the city of San Jose just to secure a midnight landing slot for his private jet. The billionaire was willing to fight a lengthy court battle so that he could keep landing his $38 million Gulfstream V after a local airport noise curfew. Backed by a full legal team, the case eventually reached US federal court.But his approach to buying a superyacht named the 'Rising Sun' was very different. The Oracle co-founder commissioned the $490 million, 454-foot megayacht with iconic British designer Jon Bannenberg over lattes and two emails, without a single lawyer involved.The contrast shows the unpredictable nature of the world’s fifth-richest man, a perfectionist who recently saw his personal fortune fluctuate by more than $47 billion in less than a week.
A floating palace sealed with two E-mails
The way Rising Sun came together was unusual for a project of its size. Most billionaires rely on lawyers, advisers and months of negotiations when commissioning a superyacht. Ellison did not. After rejecting designs from several firms, the Oracle founder met British designer Jon Bannenberg in London. A conversation over coffee, a physical model and two emails were enough to finalise the deal for the 7,841 gross tonnage yacht, which was delivered in 2004.
Bannenberg created the first designs in an office that was still almost entirely free of computer-aided design (CAD) software. Although the legendary designer died before the yacht was completed, his vision remained at the heart of the project.
The Rising Sun superyacht
Several of Bannenberg's signature design ideas made it onto Rising Sun. One was a suspended, tube-like walkway through the main engine room, giving guests a close look at the machinery that powered the yacht to speeds of 30 knots (55.6 km/h).
Another was an exposed Z-frame structure separating the tender-launching areas. It was originally meant to be left in raw-finished aluminium, but after Bannenberg's death, the plan was changed and it was given a metallic paint finish instead.As work on the yacht continued, Ellison decided to make it even bigger. Rising Sun was extended to 454 feet, making it 47 feet longer than Paul Allen's Octopus. The extra space allowed for features such as a double-height cinema, a wine cellar, a helipad, a swimming pool and a basketball court.
The yacht could accommodate 18 guests and needed a crew of 45, while Ellison had an entire deck reserved for his own use.
A retreat to minimalism?
Despite the grandeur of Rising Sun, its sheer scale eventually caused the Oracle billionaire to reconsider his approach to luxury. Having once spent roughly $100 million chasing the America’s Cup, Ellison chose to pivot toward minimalism.By 2010, after five years of ownership, he sold his remaining share of the vessel to media mogul David Geffen, who had previously been a co-owner. Ellison occasionally regretted parting with his earlier 244-foot yacht, Katana, a vessel his close friend Steve Jobs had considered "just about perfect." Following the sale of Rising Sun, Ellison downsized by a lot, purchasing the 288-foot Musashi for $130 million.
288-foot Musashi, $130 million
How one of the world's richest man lost upto $47 billion
Ellison's changing approach to luxury spending comes at a time when his personal fortune has also taken a hit. According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List, his net worth fell from about $296 billion on 2 June to around $249.7 billion less than a week later.The $47.3 billion decline came as investors pulled back from technology and artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. Because Ellison owns about 41 per cent of Oracle, a 4 per cent fall in the company's shares on 9 June wiped about $10.4 billion off his fortune in a single day.
The drop pushed him from second to fifth on the world's richest people list, behind Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.The fall came after a huge rise in Ellison's wealth over the past year, fuelled by investor excitement around Oracle's cloud business and AI plans. The surge had briefly pushed his fortune above $400 billion, making him only the second person after Elon Musk to reach that level. Oracle shares are now around 41 per cent below their peak from September 2025.The company is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings, with analysts predicting earnings of $1.96 per share on revenues of $19.1 billion. Wall Street observers are tracking Oracle's order backlog, which is projected to rise to $661 billion from the $553 billion recorded in March. That backlog figure now exceeds the annual economic output of several small nations, as well as the total market value of Oracle itself.
