Larry Ellison: Richest Sailor in the World and Media Mogul

Larry Ellison is one of the local sailors we’ve covered over the last 48 years. He’s also the richest sailor we’ve covered, because it’s impossible to find a wealthier sailor anywhere. He’s currently the second-richest person in the world, and was recently the richest person when he briefly surpassed Elon Musk, whose wealth seems to vary depending on what he posts on X. Apparently, Musk doesn’t sail. Ellison is a quieter soul who’s had immense success in business and sailing, along with uttering one of our favorite quotes: “I had all the disadvantages necessary for success.”

We now find it gratifying to see that, after all these years of appearing in the pages of Latitude 38, Larry  (and his son David) have decided to follow in Latitude’s footsteps and get into the media business. We’ve always loved the business (at least when covering sailors and sailing) and we hope he’ll add to sailing’s visibility with his foray into media. He certainly did it with the America’s Cup and SailGP.

Of course, it’s on a different scale than Latitude 38. Larry’s son, David Ellison, through his company Skydance Media, has built up a production business (films, television, animation, games). Then in 2024/25, Skydance Media (backed by Larry Ellison) merged with Paramount Global, which is the parent of the CBS network and many other media properties. This gives control of Paramount’s assets (including CBS) to the Ellison/Sky­dance consortium. Larry now holds about 35% of the voting interest of the company. They may soon add TikTok in some kind of US spinoff deal.

Ellison was quoted in the New York Times: “’We aim to do our part in helping rebuild a society where our shared humanity unites us, and where our differences become a source of strength rather than division,’ Mr. Ellison wrote.”

Larry Ellison’s spectacular rise in business was paralleled by his amazing ascent in sailing. Beyond the Lido 14, his sailing exploits are considerable, including an ocean racing career aboard his Farr-designed Sayonara, managed by Bill and Melinda Erkelens. Inshore, Sayonara won the 1996 Big Boat Series with straight bullets. He competed very successfully in the RC44 class while also pursuing his America’s Cup ambitions.

Ellison started pursuing the America’s Cup in 2003 and won the Cup in 2010, so he could bring it to San Francisco Bay to win it again, nine to eight against the Kiwis. This was the “greatest comeback” in sports moment with recently inducted America’s Cup Hall of Famer Jimmy Spithill at the helm. Other boating interests have included his 184-ft Perini Navi ketch and 452-ft megayacht Rising Sun. We’re just scratching the surface.

It turns out that six of the 10 wealthiest people in the world are sailors, and five of those six are from the world of West Coast sailing. Here are the top 10 billionaires, with asterisks for those who sail:

Elon Musk ~$422 billion (non-sailor); sailor Larry Ellison* ~$287 billion; sailor Mark Zuckerberg* ~$257 billion; sailor Jeff Bezos* ~$243 billion (has a 417-ft sailboat with a 246-ft “follow boat”); kiteboarder Larry Page* ~$177 billion; kiteboarder Sergey Brin* ~$165 billion; Jensen Huang ~$156 billion (non-sailor); Bernard Arnault and family* ~$155 billion (333-ft superyacht, and funds Louis Vuitton Cup); Steve Ballmer ~$153.9 billion (powerboater); and Warren Buffett ~$149 billion (sailing history unknown).

Five of the billionaires are West Coast sailors just like the rest of us. One of the primary challenges this presents for sailing is the general public’s believing we are all billionaires. It keeps many possible sailors away because they believe sailing is too expensive. They should visit their local community sailing centers, like these folks at Cal Sailing Club. There are a few more exceptionally wealthy sailors, but if you put the other 99.9% of sailors together, they probably couldn’t scrape together another billion among them all.

Another thing that makes this interesting to Latitude 38 is that a common interest of advertisers is the average net worth of the readership. If we assume that the five West Coast billionaire sailors are readers of Latitude 38 (why wouldn’t they be?), then the average net worth of our readers is over $225 billion — if we add in the net worth of all the rest of you.

Larry Ellison’s first sailing experiences in the Lido 14 on the Berkeley waterfront show how small boats remain at the foundation of sailing and how far sailing can take you! If you love sailing, have a good idea, work hard, and have all the necessary disadvantages, you too might become a billionaire. After that, you might be able to join Latitude 38 in the media industry.

Beyond becoming a billionaire, we believe that if you sail, you’ll have a rich life.