Feet on the Ground

(Image from Business Insider)

As his company moves into the cloud, billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison has accelerated his investments on the ground.

In 2012 he bought 98% of the island of Lanai. Not being content with owning the two Four Seasons hotels that came with the $300 million purchase, Mr. Ellison bought the 10-room Hotel Lanai in 2014 and now owns every hotel room on the island.

In 2015 he paid $71.6 million for Palo Alto's 86-room Epiphany Hotel.

Earlier this month "Oracle Corp. has purchased the 476-room Marriott Hotel in San Mateo for $132 million, in part to use for training its direct-sales staff."

These property purchases may seem staggeringly large, but they constitute only one percent (1%) of Larry Ellison's estimated $50 billion fortune.

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
                                                                               --F. Scott Fitzgerald