Who Is Larry Ellison Married To in 2025? Wives, Relationships & Family Life

While everyone watched Oracle’s stock soar and Larry Ellison’s net worth hit $393 billion, his personal life remained private. Then a college football deal exposed everything. The University of Michigan needed quarterback Bryce Underwood. The price tag? $10.5 million. When the deal closed, the school thanked Larry Ellison and his wife Jolin for making it happen. That’s how the world learned about his fifth marriage.

At 81, Ellison married Jolin Zhu, a 33-year-old Chinese-American entrepreneur. The age gap sparked headlines. The secrecy raised questions. But this pattern isn’t new for Oracle’s co-founder.

Marriage Track Record: Four Divorces Before Wife Number Five

Money doesn’t buy lasting love. Ellison proved this across decades of failed relationships. His marriage history reads like a cautionary tale about wealth and commitment.

Adda Quinn: The Struggling Years

Ellison’s first marriage began in 1967 when Oracle was just an idea. Adda Quinn married a man with big dreams and empty pockets. They survived seven years of financial uncertainty before calling it quits in 1974.

Quinn later described their relationship as “tumultuous.” The main killer? Money problems. Ellison was still finding his path in the tech world. Young entrepreneurs rarely make ideal husbands. The pressure of building something from nothing destroys most relationships.

Nancy Wheeler Jenkins: The Costly Mistake

His second marriage lasted just one year. Nancy Wheeler Jenkins made the worst financial decision in history during their 1978 divorce. She gave up all claims to Oracle for $500.

Oracle went public in 1986. By 2025, that $500 decision cost her billions. Recognizing potential means little if you can’t wait for the payoff.

Barbara Boothe: Hollywood Legacy

Barbara Boothe entered Ellison’s life when Oracle was taking shape. She worked as a receptionist at Relational Software Inc., the company that became Oracle. They married in 1983.

This marriage produced Ellison’s only children. David Ellison founded Skydance Media and produced films like Top Gun: Maverick. Megan Ellison runs Annapurna Pictures, backing movies like Her and Zero Dark Thirty. Both became Hollywood powerhouses.

The marriage ended in 1986, but Barbara got the better deal. Their children inherited Ellison’s drive and her stability. The marriage lasted three years, produced two successful children, and ended amicably. Sometimes the shortest marriages leave the biggest impact.

Romance Novelist to Long-term Partner: The Craft and Kahn Years

Melanie Craft: High-Profile Wedding, Quiet Divorce

Ellison waited until 2003 for his fourth marriage. Melanie Craft was a romance novelist who understood storytelling. Their wedding became a Silicon Valley legend. Steve Jobs served as a photographer. Two tech titans. One artistic vision. The marriage lasted seven years before ending in 2010. No kids. No drama. Just two people who grew apart despite perfect circumstances.

Craft understood Ellison’s world better than his previous wives. She had creative independence. She knew wealth’s benefits and costs. Still, it wasn’t enough.

Nikita Kahn: The Decade-Long Question Mark

After his 2010 divorce, Ellison began dating Nikita Kahn. She was a Ukrainian-born model, actress, and animal rights activist. The relationship lasted over a decade. Here’s where the story gets murky. Some sources call Kahn his fifth wife. Others list her as a long-term girlfriend. The media can’t agree whether they are married or just live together.

However, what’s clear is that Kahn was 19 when they started dating. Ellison was 66. He named a Malibu restaurant after her. She appeared at sailing events and tech conferences. Then, around 2020, she disappeared from public life. The relationship ended quietly. No announcements. No explanations. Just another chapter closed in Ellison’s complicated love story.

Current Marriage: Jolin Zhu and the 47-Year Age Gap

The Oracle founder married again in late 2024. Jolin Zhu, born Zhu Keren in China, moved to America in 2010. She majored in international studies at the University of Michigan.

At 33, she’s closer in age to Ellison’s son David than to Larry himself. The 47-year age gap dominates every conversation about their relationship. Zhu worked in real estate near Oracle’s former Redwood Shores headquarters. That’s likely where they met. Their first public appearance was in 2018 at tennis tournaments and sailing events.

She keeps no social media presence. Gives no interviews. Lives in Ellison’s $110 million Woodside estate but votes from his $173 million Palm Beach property. Nobody in Silicon Valley has met her. Sources in Hollywood report the same mystery. Even in sailing circles where Ellison spends serious time, Zhu rarely appears.

“He’s very serious about the sport and mixes with the sailing community, so it is odd he has never brought his wife,” one sailing insider noted. The secrecy isn’t accidental. Ellison learned from previous relationships that public attention kills privacy. With Zhu, he’s protecting what matters.

How Public Scrutiny Shaped Private Choices

Media Lessons from Four Divorces

Each marriage taught Ellison something about public life. The early divorces happened when Oracle was smaller. Less money meant less attention.

By the time he married Melanie Craft, everything changed. Tech billionaires became celebrities. Every relationship detail became news fodder. The Craft wedding made headlines because of Steve Jobs’s involvement. Their divorce got covered like Hollywood breakups. Ellison realized fame and privacy don’t coexist.

With Nikita Kahn, he tried a middle approach. Public appearances at select events. Private life stayed private. The strategy worked for a decade until it didn’t. Now with Zhu, he’s gone full stealth mode. The marriage stayed secret for months. Only a college football deal exposed them.

Pattern Recognition: What His Marriages Reveal

Ellison’s relationship history shows clear evolution. Early marriages focused on companionship during Oracle’s growth. Later ones dealt with wealth and status complications.

Marriage one: Defined by survival mode. Building something together. Marriage two: A transition period, coupled with wrong timing. Marriage three: The success phase and creating a family legacy. Marriage four: Established wealth, and seeking intellectual equals. Marriage five: Obtaining maximum privacy and protecting his wealth.

Each wife represented a different life stage. Each divorce taught new lessons about compatibility and timing. The age gaps grew larger over time. Quinn was close to his age. Zhu is nearly five decades younger. This isn’t a coincidence.

Older, wealthier men often choose younger partners for energy and fewer complications. Younger women sometimes choose older men for security and experience.

Children and Family Dynamics

David and Megan Ellison inherited their father’s ambition but chose different paths. Both build entertainment empires instead of tech companies. David runs Skydance Media. His films include the Mission Impossible franchise and Top Gun: Maverick. He understands blockbuster economics.

Megan founded Annapurna Pictures. She backs artistic projects like, Her, American Hustle, and Zero Dark Thirty. She values creative integrity over profit margins. Both succeeded without riding on their father’s reputation directly. They built independent careers in different industries.

The wealth transfer question looms large. Ellison controls Oracle shares worth hundreds of billions. How much goes to kids versus wives becomes complex math. Most tech billionaires create family trusts and foundations. Ellison’s charitable giving suggests similar planning. But marriage five adds new variables to inheritance equations.

Business Decisions Through a Personal Lens

Oracle Success and Relationship Stability

Building Oracle required obsessive focus. Early marriages suffered because work consumed everything. The company needed a founder who prioritized growth over personal life. By the time Oracle dominated database software, Ellison had learned to balance. Later marriages lasted longer because he could delegate operations.

His current role as CTO instead of CEO creates more flexibility. Less daily management means more time for relationships. The timing of his fifth marriage aligns with Oracle’s AI transformation. The company signed massive cloud deals worth hundreds of billions. Ellison’s wealth exploded just as his personal life stabilized.

Business success often requires sacrifice in relationships. Then success creates new relationship possibilities and challenges.

Investment Philosophy Mirrors Personal Choices

Ellison’s investment strategy shows patience and conviction. He bought Tesla stock early and held through volatility. Same approach with Hawaiian island purchases.

His relationship patterns show similar thinking. Long courtships before commitment. Willingness to try again after failures. Learning from each outcome. The Zhu marriage represents his latest evolution. Maximum privacy. Minimum drama. Focus on what works instead of public validation.

Current Status and Future Implications

At 81, Ellison became the world’s richest man in September 2025. Oracle’s AI partnerships with OpenAI and other companies drove its net worth past $390 billion. The timing suggests marriage five happened during his wealth peak. Zhu married the richest version of Ellison that ever existed.

Their age difference means she’ll likely outlive him by decades. The inheritance implications affect not just the family but Oracle’s future control structure. Ellison owns about 40% of Oracle through various entities. Those shares will need new ownership structures eventually.

What This Says About Wealth and Relationships

Five marriages. Four divorces. Billions in net worth. The pattern reveals something about money and love.

Partners must navigate the balance between genuine affection and financial attraction. Every interaction carries huge monetary implications.

Ellison’s choices show someone still seeking connection despite repeated failures. The optimism required for entrepreneurship extends to personal life. Most people would stop trying after four divorces. Billionaire founders keep building new ventures. The same psychology applies to marriage.

His current approach prioritizes privacy over publicity. Smart evolution after decades of learning what doesn’t work. Success in business doesn’t guarantee success in relationships. But it does create more opportunities to try again. At 81, he’s still writing new chapters.