Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison is no stranger to the real estate market — he's been called"the nation's most avid trophy-home buyer" and has all but taken over entire neighborhoods in Malibu and the Lake Tahoe area.
When asked by CNBC in 2012 why he would buy more homes than he could possibly live in, Ellison referenced his love of art.
"My favorite museums are things like the Frick Museum in New York and the Huntington Hartford in Pasadena where it's someone's home that you walk through," Ellison said to CNBC. "So I'm going to start these art museums that are basically converted homes, and I have one for modern art, and I have one for 19th century European art, and one for French impressionism. I've got Japanese. I own a home in Kyoto, Japan actually on the temple on grounds in Nanzenji that is going to become a Japanese art museum. So, a lot of them are museums."
Ellison has made headlines in recent years for his plans to develop Lanai, a Hawaiian island he purchased in 2012, into a model for environmentally sound living. Though Lanai has been his largest overall investment by far, he's made a number of blockbuster purchases over the last two decades.
In 1988, Ellison paid $3.9 million for a William Wurster home in San Francisco's swanky Pacific Heights neighborhood, a popular area that's now home to other tech moguls like Mark Pincus, Jonathan Ive, and Trevor Traina. Several news outlets reported that Ellison planned to buy the home next door for $40 million, but the sale never happened.
Source: Curbed SF
His home in Woodside, Calif., modeled after a 16th-century Japanese emperor's palace, is worth an estimated $70 million. The 23-acre estate took nine years to design and build, and it was completed in 2004.
Source: SF Gate
He also owns a historic garden villa in Kyoto, Japan, which was reportedly listed for $86 million, though the price he paid is unknown.
Source: SF Gate, Japan Property Central
Pictured: Nanzen-ji Temple, which is right near Ellison's estate
See the rest of the story at Business Insider