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For most homeowners, buying a house is a major financial decision. For one billionaire, buying eight houses in the same neighborhood was apparently the easiest way to solve a staffing problem.
Oracle co-founder and Executive Chair Larry Ellison quietly purchased eight homes in Palm Meadows Estates, a gated community in Boynton Beach, Florida, for nearly $10 million in 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal. The properties weren’t for Ellison himself. They were purchased for members of his family’s household staff, including tutors for some of his five children.
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Ellison and his wife, Jolin, have five children together, all of whom are younger than 18, according to people familiar with the family. Some of the older children are homeschooled at the family’s Manalapan estate, where there are multiple tutors and the children are learning several languages.
The purchases were made through a limited liability company with a California address. Eight homes with different sellers closed within weeks of one another in May and June, and most weren’t publicly listed, according to the Journal.
The mystery buyer initially had residents guessing. Some suspected Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Others thought Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was behind the buying spree.
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Eight Homes Created An Unusual Staff Housing Setup
Palm Meadows Estates is a 288-home gated community between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. The community has 24-hour security, a recreation center with a swimming pool, fitness facilities, pickleball and tennis courts, and sits beside a thoroughbred training center.
The homes are about 30 minutes from Ellison’s Manalapan compound, which he purchased for $173 million in 2022. Unlike that sprawling oceanfront property, the Palm Meadows houses are relatively modest suburban homes. Some have swimming pools and well-maintained yards.
The arrangement also gives Ellison’s staff a place to live close to the family without living inside the main residence. Peter Mahler of Mahler Private Staffing told the Journal that providing housing can help wealthy clients recruit staff in expensive markets while keeping employees close enough for a reasonable commute. He said some clients also prefer employees to live off-site for greater family privacy.
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Real Estate Investing Doesn’t Require Billionaire Money
Buying eight houses for nearly $10 million is hardly a realistic starting point for the average real-estate investor. Owning a piece of real estate, however, doesn’t necessarily require millions of dollars.
Arrived lets eligible investors buy fractional shares of individual rental homes with investments starting at $100. The platform handles property management, while investors can potentially receive rental income and participate in appreciation if the property increases in value.
Ellison’s Palm Meadows purchases are an extreme example of how the ultrawealthy can approach real estate. For everyone else, fractional ownership offers a way to participate at a dramatically smaller scale.
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Building Wealth Across More Than Just The Market
Building a resilient portfolio means thinking beyond a single asset or market trend. Economic cycles shift, sectors rise and fall, and no one investment performs well in every environment. That’s why many investors look to diversify with platforms that provide access to real estate, fixed-income opportunities, precious metals, and even self-directed retirement accounts. By spreading exposure across multiple asset classes, it becomes easier to manage risk, capture steady returns, and create long-term wealth that isn’t tied to the fortunes of just one company or industry.
EquityMultiple
For accredited investors looking beyond stocks and bonds, EquityMultiple provides access to vetted commercial real estate deals starting at $5,000, with only ~5% of opportunities passing their due diligence process.
Arrived
Backed by Jeff Bezos, Arrived Homes makes real estate investing accessible with a low barrier to entry. Investors can buy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting with as little as $100. This allows everyday investors to diversify into real estate, collect rental income, and build long-term wealth without needing to manage properties directly.
American PowerGen
As artificial intelligence drives a surge in electricity demand, reliable power generation is becoming a critical part of the technology ecosystem. American PowerGen is developing natural gas-fired power plants in Texas, a fast-growing market fueled by AI data centers, manufacturing expansion, and population growth. By advancing projects through permitting, fuel supply, and grid interconnection, the company is positioning itself to help meet rising energy needs while offering investors exposure to the infrastructure supporting the next wave of AI and industrial growth.
Bito
As AI coding tools take on more of the work traditionally done by developers, companies are facing new challenges around code quality, context and the rising cost of AI-powered development. Bito is building software designed to help AI coding agents better understand complex codebases while helping companies control AI development costs. Founded by former PubMatic executives, Bito has raised more than $10 million from institutional and individual investors and is now raising additional capital through a Wefunder offering, giving investors an opportunity to invest in a company targeting an emerging need within the rapidly expanding AI software market.
FarmTogether
Farmland has historically held its value through market volatility and delivered returns uncorrelated to stocks and bonds. For accredited investors, FarmTogether offers direct access to high-quality U.S. farmland starting at $15,000 — fully managed, with no landlord headaches.
Fundrise
Private real estate and private credit can add income and stability to a stock-heavy portfolio. Fundrise offers access to diversified private real estate and credit strategies through an easy-to-use platform, with professionally managed portfolios designed to generate passive income and long-term growth.
This article Billionaire Larry Ellison Spent $10 Million On 8 Homes In Florida Gated Community For His Staff, Including His Kids’ Tutors originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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