The numbers come first. Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg are two examples of a wider pattern among the ultrawealthy: buying nearby homes not to live in themselves, but to keep staff close.
Ellison, worth $195 billion, paid nearly $10 million in 2023 for homes in a small gated community in Boynton Beach, Fla., to house members of his family’s staff, including tutors for the five children he shares with Jolin Ellison, his sixth wife, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation. The community is roughly 30 minutes from the Manalapan, Fla., oceanfront estate he bought a year earlier for $173 million. That purchase was, at the time, the most expensive residential property ever to change hands in Florida, according to Palm Beach Daily News.
The Journal also reported that Ellison has bought eight homes in Palm Meadows Estates through an Ellison-linked LLC with a California address. Overall, Ellison has invested at least an estimated cumulative $450 million in real estate investment in Manalapan, a 400-resident island town about 20 minutes from Mar-a-Lago.
The same logic shows up in Palo Alto. Zuckerberg, worth $261 billion, has spent more than $110 million since 2011 to acquire at least 11 houses in the city’s Crescent Park neighborhood, according to the New York Times. The Times reported that he sometimes offered owners double or even triple what their homes were worth. Several homes sit empty, others house guests or host entertainment, and one was used as a private school in violation of city code.
Zuckerberg’s attorney said the family arranges taxi and rideshare transportation for staff, and pays someone to make sure anyone connected to the property parks only in front of homes Zuckerberg owns, Palo Alto Online reported. A spokesperson for Zuckerberg said the family has made Palo Alto their home for more than a decade and has taken steps above and beyond any local requirements to avoid disruption in the neighborhood.
The market has already voted on the underlying model. Rich buyers are routing home purchases through LLCs, privacy trusts, and off-market 'whisper' listings to stay anonymous, and one broker told Fortune that ultrahigh-net-worth individuals think differently about liquidity and leverage. They would rather keep money working in investments, businesses, or even art than tie it all up in one property.
For neighbors and city governments, the result is a familiar one: private capital moving faster than local rules. In April, Palo Alto’s City Council voted down a plan aimed at owners who hold more than three properties on a single block. It would have capped construction time, required licensed security guards, and set occupancy rules.
That is the larger story here. When capital gets big enough, it does not just buy assets. It buys distance, privacy, and the ability to shape a block without asking permission from the people who live there. For free enterprise, the lesson is straightforward: property rights and clear rules matter, because the administrative state never catches up as fast as private leverage does.
