While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has invested heavily in real estate, including a $600 million investment in Florida’s ‘Billionaire Bunker’ and other multi-million dollar properties in Miami, Washington D.C., and Manhattan, Larry Ellison is also expanding his real estate empire. The billionaire’s latest acquisition illustrates his continued interest in high-end hospitality properties.
Ellison’s Portfolio of Luxury Properties
One of the world’s richest men, Ellison, has an estimated net worth of $162 billion USD, according to Forbes. His extensive property portfolio already includes a Four Seasons Resort, Nobu Ryokan, and two dozen houses on Malibu’s Carbon Beach, also known as “Billionaire’s Beach.” Additionally, he owns the Nobu Hotel, Palo Alto and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe.
Ellison also owns the private island of Lanai, the sixth-largest island in Hawaii, which he purchased for $300 million USD in 2012. The island serves as Ellison’s primary residence.
A New Jewel in Ellison’s Crown
Ellison has now enhanced his real estate empire with the purchase of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, just south of Palm Beach. He acquired the property from the Lewis Trust Group for an undisclosed sum.
The resort completed a yearlong, multi-million dollar renovation in 2022, with its ballroom and event spaces having been remodelled in 2018. Spanning across eight acres, the resort and hotel feature a variety of guest rooms, suites, restaurants, and event spaces, as well as a beach, gym, and spa.
Simon Lewis, principal of the London-based venture capital firm, said this in a statement:
“Though we are sorry to bring our tenure to a close, we are gratified in knowing that Larry Ellison will treasure the resort and guide its hoteliers to even greater heights.”
Ellison’s new property began as a popular beach club in the 1950s before being demolished around the late 1970s to make way for the resort. Prior to the Lewis group’s purchase of it in 2003, it was branded as Ritz-Carlton hotel. Then it was rebranded as Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa a decade ago.
Over the years, Palm Beach’s most renowned oceanfront destinations have welcomed figures from the Vanderbilts to the Fords and Rockefellers. The resort has consistently earned the Forbes Five-Star Resort rating and has been recognized for ten years for its celebrated Eau Spa.
This purchase follows Ellison’s $173 million USD acquisition of a residential property a few miles down the coast in Manalapan just two years ago, which broke Florida’s record for the priciest real estate sale in history.
Less than an hour’s drive from Bezos’ new favourite spot, it seems that the sunshine state really is becoming America’s newest haven for holidaying billionaires. Could you see yourself setting up anew in the panhandle? Or are you quite happy where you are?
