Identified for his tech feats as cofounder and chief expertise officer of Oracle, in South Florida, Larry Ellison is as a substitute flexing his developer expertise as he pours tens of millions of {dollars} into actual property and helps rework an unique island city 20 minutes from Mar-a-Lago right into a haven for the mega-rich.
The world’s fifth wealthiest man began shopping for properties within the 400-resident city of Manalapan, Fla. in 2022, and since then has pumped $450 million into two landmark properties, Bloomberg reported. Ellison set a Florida document for the acquisition of a $173 million property spanning 16-acres that features each beachfront and lakefront property. And in August 2024, he paid $277 million for the city’s largest construction, a 300-plus room lodge, the Eau Palm Seashore Resort & Spa, in accordance with Bloomberg.
The lodge stands on the grounds of the unique La Coquille Membership, which within the 1950’s reportedly hosted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in addition to members of the Ford and Vanderbilt households. Within the ’80s the unique membership was razed, but it surely nonetheless exists in title and is an element of what’s now the Eau Palm Seashore lodge. Manalapan property house owners can grow to be members of the seashore membership with out paying initiation charges or annual dues, in accordance with the City of Manalapan’s web site.
The Eau Palm Seashore Resort & Spa in Manalapan, Fla.
Michele Eve Sandberg—AFP through Getty Photographs
For years, the ultra-rich have more and more homed in on Florida properties. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has purchased three properties on the Florida island Indian Creek, close to Miami. Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of funding agency Citadel, has additionally spent an estimated $450 million over time amassing a 25-acre unfold in Palm Seashore.
In Manalapan, a number of beachfront houses alongside the identical highway as Ellison’s property have bought for tens of tens of millions of {dollars}, in accordance with Zillow. But, Manalapan’s mayor John Deese informed Fortune that the latest high-price purchases in addition to Ellison’s investments within the city are greater than welcome.
Ellison’s buy of the Eau Palm Seashore lodge now serves as a first-rate attraction for high-net-worth potential consumers. Stewart Satter, the native developer of a just lately listed $285 million mansion adjoining to Ellison’s property in Manalapan, stated Ellison’s plans for the lodge may grow to be a focus of the world.
“The hotel has the potential to be an extraordinary property in the town,” Satter informed Bloomberg. “And Ellison certainly has a reputation for operating some beautiful resorts.”
Ellison bought the vast majority of the Hawaiian island of Lanai in 2012 for an estimated $300 million, and thru his firm, Pulama Lanai, has transformed the island’s two 4 Seasons resort motels, and acquired reward for brand new, ultra-luxe touches. Among the many additions debuted in 2016 on the 4 Seasons Resort Lanai had been a $21,000 per evening “Alii Royal Suite,” in addition to grotto-style swimming pools and iPad Air gadgets in each room to order room service and housekeeping, amongst different facilities, in accordance with SFGate.
On the Eau Palm Seashore Resort & Spa, Ellison has additionally promised renovations and has put in a pop-up Nobu restaurant on-site, Bloomberg reported. Nobu seems to be a favourite of Ellison’s. He and Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang there final 12 months to beg him for extra GPUs. Ellison stated he picked up the tab.
One other draw of Manalapan and the encircling areas is the proximity to Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s “Winter White House,” the place he usually spends weekends, in accordance with Palm Seashore County Commissioner Maria Sachs.
“Every place in that area is having a moment because of Donald Trump,” Sachs informed Bloomberg. “You are so close to Mar-a-Lago, you can get a membership and everyone knows that he’s very public there.”
A model of this story initially printed on Fortune.com on March 21, 2025.
Extra on actual property:
- In a frozen luxurious housing market, consumers are asking to ‘try before they buy’ and having sleepovers in multimillion-dollar mansions
- Gen Z is defiantly ‘giving up’ on ever proudly owning a house and is spending greater than saving, working much less, and making dangerous investments, research exhibits
- A ‘new era’ within the housing market is about to start as affordability lastly improves ‘for the first time in a bunch of years,’ economist says
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