Known for his tech feats as cofounder and chief technology officer of Oracle, Larry Ellison is instead flexing his developer experience in South Florida as he pours millions of dollars into real estate and helps transform an exclusive island town 20 minutes from Mar-a-Lago into a haven for the mega-rich.
“Manalapan has for many years been one of the highest-ranked communities in terms of home sales prices in the United States. The recent sales have just added to the overall success of the real estate market in South Florida. We feel very fortunate that Mr. Ellison and others chose Manalapan for their residential and commercial property investments,” Deese said in an email.
Ellison’s purchase of the Eau Palm Beach hotel now serves as a prime attraction for high-net-worth potential buyers. Stewart Satter, the local developer of a recently listed $285 million mansion adjacent to Ellison’s property in Manalapan, said Ellison’s plans for the hotel could become a focal point of the area.
“The hotel has the potential to be an extraordinary property in the town,” Satter told Bloomberg. “And Ellison certainly has a reputation for operating some beautiful resorts.”
At the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, Ellison has also promised renovations. One of the first changes was a pop-up Nobu restaurant that later became a permanent replacement for the Polpo Palm Beach restaurant formerly located in the space, according to a spokesperson for the hotel.
Another draw of Manalapan and the surrounding areas is the proximity to Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s “Winter White House,” where he often spends weekends, according to Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Sachs.
“Every place in that area is having a moment because of Donald Trump,” Sachs told Bloomberg. “You are so close to Mar-a-Lago, you can get a membership, and everyone knows that he’s very public there.”
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on March 21, 2025.
