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Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison helps raise the profile of the 400-resident island town of Manalapan, Fla. The multi-billionaire has already made a combined $450 million in real estate investment in the city and has taken over his largest structure, the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, which offers membership to city owners with no taxes or initiation fees.
Known for his technological exploits as co-founder and CTO of Oracle, Larry Ellison trades his South Florida developer experience as he invests millions of dollars in real estate and helps transform an exclusive island town 20 minutes from Mar-a-Lago into a paradise for the mega-rich.
The world’s fifth-richest man began buying property in the town of Manalapan, Florida, with a population of 400, in 2022, and has since pumped $450 million into two landmark properties, Bloomberg reported. Ellison set a Florida record for the $173 million purchase of the 16-acre estate, which includes both oceanfront and lakefront property. And in August 2024, he paid $277 million for the city’s largest structure, a 300-plus-room hotel, the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, according to Bloomberg.
The hotel sits on the grounds of the original La Coquille Club, which in the 1950s hosted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, as well as members of the Ford and Vanderbilt families. In the 1980s, the original club was destroyed, but it still exists in name and is part of what is now the Eau Palm Beach Hotel. Manalapan property owners can become beach club members without paying initiation fees or annual dues, according to the City of Manalapan website.
For years, the ultra-rich have increasingly holed up in Florida properties. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought three properties on Florida’s Indian Creek island near Miami. Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of investment firm Citadel, has also spent about $450 million over the years to amass 25 acres in Palm Beach.
In Manalapan, several beachfront homes along the same road as Ellison’s property have sold for tens of millions of dollars, according to Zillow. However, Manalapan Mayor John Deese said wealth that recent high-priced purchases as well as Ellison’s investments in the city are more than welcome.
“Manalapan has for many years been one of the top-ranked communities in terms of home sale prices in the United States. Recent sales have added to the overall success of the South Florida real estate market. We feel very fortunate that Mr. Ellison and others have chosen Manalapan for their residential and commercial real estate investments,” Deese said in an email.