Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle, has attracted unexpected attention after the name of his superyacht sparked controversy online.
The incident, which centred on the vessel's original name, prompted a swift response from the technology magnate and led to the yacht being renamed.
The 81-year-old, whose fortune has been estimated at up to $393 billion, had named the 58-metre yacht Izanami, after a Shinto goddess from Japanese mythology. However, social media users noted that the name, when read backwards, formed a phrase widely regarded as offensive. The observation triggered a wave of criticism and prompted Ellison to remove the name from the hull.
The Oracle co-founder recently found himself at the centre of a social media firestorm, not for a hostile takeover or a daring AI investment, but for a simple lack of proofreading that produced a deeply offensive slur on the hull of his German-built vessel.
The yacht, a sleek 58-metre masterpiece from the Lürssen shipyard, was originally christened Izanami. Drawing from his well-documented passion for Japanese culture, Ellison chose the name after the Shinto goddess of creation and death.
It was only when the vessel was placed in front of a mirror or perhaps when a keen-eyed observer looked at it from the right angle, that the horror became clear. Spelled backwards, Izanami reads: 'I'm a Nazi'.
For Ellison, who maintains staunch family ties to Israel and has donated record-breaking sums to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces ($16.6 million in 2017 alone), the revelation was more than a mere embarrassment; it was a reputational catastrophe.
Reports suggest the 81-year-old mogul rushed to use paint thinner personally to scrub away the name before re-branding the boat as Ronin.
The Relentless Rise: Larry Ellison Career Highlights
While the yacht mishap provided a rare moment of levity for his critics, Ellison's career remains a masterclass in aggressive, visionary business. Born in 1944 to a single mother and raised in a modest Chicago apartment, Ellison's journey to becoming the world's third-richest person (as of early 2026) began with a $1,200 investment in 1977.
Alongside partners Bob Miner and Ed Oates, he founded Software Development Laboratories, the precursor to Oracle.
His first major client was the CIA, for whom he developed a relational database codenamed 'Oracle'. By 1987, Oracle had become the world's largest database-management company.
Ellison's tenure as CEO, which lasted nearly four decades until 2014, was defined by a 'take no prisoners' approach to competition. He famously outmanoeuvred rivals like Informix and Sybase, often through a strategy of aggressive acquisitions that eventually included Sun Microsystems and NetSuite.
| Milestone | Year | Achievement |
| Founding | 1977 | Co-founded SDL (later Oracle) with $2,000 |
| IPO | 1986 | Oracle goes public, valuing the company at $270m |
| Dominance | 1992 | Release of Oracle 7 solidifies market leadership |
| Expansion | 2010 | Acquisition of Sun Microsystems for $7.4bn |
| Peak Wealth | 2025 | Briefly becomes world's richest person at $393bn |
The Modern Mogul: AI, Politics, and a $245 Billion Empire
Today, Ellison serves as Oracle's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Chairman, overseeing a company that has pivoted successfully into the AI and cloud infrastructure age.
His wealth is a complex tapestry of public and private assets. In addition to a roughly 40% stake in Oracle, he holds significant equity in Tesla and owns 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
However, his influence extends far beyond software. Ellison has become an increasingly polarising figure in American politics, donating millions to conservative causes and maintaining close ties to leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu.
Privacy advocates frequently take aim at his views on mass surveillance; Ellison has previously argued that AI-enabled monitoring could improve social behaviour and even suggested a national identification database following the 11 September attacks.
Whether he is navigating the complex ethics of data privacy or the literal waters of the Mediterranean, Ellison remains a figure of intense fascination.
The Izanami incident serves as a grounded reminder that even when you possess the wealth of a small nation, you are still one mirror-image away from a 'Succession'-style disaster.
