Palm Beach, Florida house sells for $105m to tech billionaire Larry Ellison

The sixth-richest person on the planet has paid an insane $105 million for a lavish home in Palm Beach.

Before the northern beaches locals get excited, no, we’re not talking about Sydney’s glamorous holiday hotspot or even the south-side darling of the Gold Coast; we’re talking about Palm Beach, Florida, in the United States, which is also undergoing a spike in property prices, albeit at a slightly higher price level.

The buyer, tech billionaire Larry Ellison, paid just above the USD$79.5 million asking price for a compound that lies within an ultra-exclusive, 24-hour-guarded, gated community and boasts more than 158.5 metres of ocean frontage, Dirt reports.

The listing for the palatial spread states that it’s the third-largest oceanfront compound in Palm Beach County, resting on 2.8 hectares of land with panoramic ocean vistas.

Built in 1998, the seven-bedroom, Tuscan-style home features 1400-plus square metres of living space with hand-painted tiles, stencilled ceiling beams, carved fireplaces and gilded flourishes.

Rated by Forbes as the world’s sixth-richest person, with a net worth of $A131 billion, Ellison is known for his impressive real estate portfolio consisting of trophy properties stretching from Silicon Valley to Japan and beyond.

In 2020, Business Insider reported he owned 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, a William Wurster-designed mansion on San Francisco’s Billionaire’s Row, a 9.3-hectare estate in California modelled after a 16th-century Japanese imperial palace, and a historic garden villa in Kyoto, Japan.

Ellison has been dubbed the United States’ “most avid trophy home buyer” and all but has all but taken over entire neighbourhoods in some areas. He reportedly owns about two dozen properties in Malibu worth an estimated $A263 to $A328 million, along with numerous properties in the Lake Tahoe area.

Key features of Ellison’s new Palm Beach property include a striking entry foyer, arches, a spiral staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade, beamed ceilings, a professional chef’s kitchen with a ceiling fresco and dual islands, an opulent master retreat and a wine room.

Outside, the property is as you might expect a $105 million home might be: there’s a tennis court, pool, plenty of indoor/outdoor living and dining space, and lots of room for a helicopter.