Larry's World

Oracle Team USA's comeback from an 8-1 deficit to capture the America's Cup was another feather in the cap for Larry Ellison, the richest and oldest member of the Bay Area billionaires' club. Over the past 35 years Oracle Corporation, which Ellison founded, has brushed aside and absorbed former high-fliers like Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, and Sun Microsystems.

Last year he acquired most of the Island of Lanai and is transforming it into a laboratory for eco-friendly ways to live.

Oracle Team USA's come-from-behind victory was historic not only in the history of yachting but of all sports. For Larry Ellison it's just another chapter in a unique bio that includes both curfew violations for flying his Gulfstream over San Jose residences and a promise to donate most of his estate to charity. At the still-vigorous age of 69, Larry Ellison doesn't appear to be done yet. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

Along the Bike Path

Redwood Shores Oracle HQ: as seen from Foster City

The synthetic turf soccer field was completed in September

This pond is a favorite with water skiers., but not after a dry summer.

We Believe What Billionaires Say

Hulopoe Beach, Lanai (McClatchy photo)

Three months after his purchase of Lanai from Castle & Cooke / Dole Food was revealed, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison discloses a few of his plans:

Based on his remarks in a CNBC interview at Oracle OpenWorld, Ellison sees the 141-square-mile island as a “laboratory for experimenting with more environmentally sound ways of living,” per AP, and “hopes to convert sea water into fresh water” — a currently limited commodity. “He also wants more electric cars on the island” — where most roads require four-wheel-drive, visitors rent pricey Jeeps and locals tend to prefer big pickups — and “hopes to increase its fruit exports to Japan and other markets.”

If he wanted to do research on electric cars and desalination, Larry Ellison could have done it in the Bay Area (near Oracle headquarters) without spending a half a billion dollars for a Hawaiian island.

Building a large-scale environmental laboratory may be part of the plans for Lanai, but there has to be more to it than that. And he'll be able to do fruit exports better than Dole? Please.