PEOPLE

Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has moved to Hawaii

December 14th, 2020

Larry Ellison, one of the world’s wealthiest people, has moved to the state of Hawaii. He’s the latest billionaire to leave California in 2020.

Ellison, the founder of the software giant Oracle, made the disclosure to employees in a company-wide note on Monday afternoon after Oracle announced that it was moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas.

“Following Friday’s announcement ... I’ve received a number of inquiries about whether or not I will be moving to Texas,” Ellison wrote. “The answer is no. I’ve moved to the state of Hawaii and I’ll be using the power of Zoom to work from the island of Lanai,” he added, signing off the email with a “Mahalo.”

Ellison, who, more than most tech billionaires, enjoys the high life, owns almost the entire island of Lanai, which he has tried to develop as an environmental and agricultural utopia. He recently launched a new wellness company based on Lanai called Sensei, and the remote island is heavily shaped by his business and philanthropic decisions.

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In recent weeks, Ellison’s allies and corporations have had to manage a coronavirus outbreak on the island.

Ellison’s announcement comes just days after Elon Musk, a close associate of Ellison’s, confirmed that he had moved to Texas in part because of Tesla’s and SpaceX’s business operations. A number of tech billionaires have voiced discontent with California’s business climate and tax policies, which would matter tremendously to someone like Ellison, who has a net worth of more than $80 billion.

California has also been more stringent than other states with its Covid-related restrictions, which has angered Musk. Ellison has said little about his feelings on those policies, but he has emerged of late as a rare Silicon Valley ally of Donald Trump. Early in the pandemic, Ellison advocated for Trump to push for hydroxychloroquine, a drug with unproven benefits against Covid-19, as a possible treatment for those with the disease.

Oracle didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Curated By

Maya Gupta
Investigative Journalist | Grassroots Movement Organizer | Economy Consultant/Speaker
Maya Gupta writes from the fault lines of a world that refuses to stay quiet. Focused on the collisions between culture, power, and accountability, her work cuts past polished narratives to expose what’s really moving beneath the surface. From the rise of creator-driven influence to athlete activism and grassroots resistance, she tracks the momentum shaping a generation unwilling to wait its turn. Her reporting doesn’t cater to comfort, it confronts it, challenging institutions that lean on legacy instead of legitimacy. With a voice rooted in urgency and a lens tuned to those often ignored, Maya delivers coverage that reflects the stakes as they are, not as they’re packaged. This is journalism that doesn’t just observe change, it stands in the middle of it, documenting the push, the backlash, and the undeniable shift underway.

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