The Buyer of Florida’s Most Expensive Home, a $173 Million Mansion, Has Been Revealed as Oracle’s Larry Ellison

Tech titan Larry Ellison was the buyer of the most expensive property ever sold in Florida, a 62,200-square-foot megamansion purchased for $173 million, according to public records released Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal, which reported the transaction last week before details about the final sale price and the buyer were revealed, identified the seller as another tech millionaire, Jim Clark, the 78-year-old creator of many Silicon Valley businesses, including Netscape.

According to PropertyShark records, Mr. Clark and his wife Kristy paid $94.2 million for the mansion in March of last year. Although no significant alterations were made to the estate, Mr. Ellison's purchase was around 45% more than what Mr. Clark paid.

He told The Wall Street Journal, "Look, it's a great piece of property." "Florida doesn't have anything like that."

"I've never earned money on real estate until now," he said.

The estate spans the breadth of the barrier island on which it is situated, with roughly 1,200 feet of ocean frontage and about 1,300 feet on the Intracoastal Waterway, according to The Wall Street Journal.

These additional structures are connected via underground tunnels. A pier, a sports complex, a pool, and a three-hole golf course are also present.

The publishing house's previous owners were the Ziff family. The Wall Street Journal said that Mr. Clark described purchasing the house as a "spur of the moment purchase." He and his wife, however, have made the decision to remain in New York.

The agreement was mediated by Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, according to The Wall Street Journal. When asked for comment, he did not respond right away. 

A demand for response from Mr. Ellison's representatives was not promptly fulfilled.