TMTPOST – Larry Ellison, the 80-year-old cofounder of tech company Oracle, has allegedly married to a 33-year-old Chinese woman named Keren Zhu. 

News of the billionaire’s marriage surfaced through a Wall Street Journal sports story on the University of Michigan football team. The team’s booster group published a statement on its website, saying that the team had secured Bryce Underwood, a highly-rated high school quarterback, from Louisiana State University. The statement also recognized Ellison and Zhu, whom the group identified as his wife, as pivotal figures in the university’s wooing Underwood.

Keren Zhu also known as Jolin Zhu, has captivated public interest due to the prominence and wealth of Ellison and their wide age gap.  A Chinese native, Zhu moved to the United States from Shenyang, the capital of northeastern China’s Liaoning province to pursue a bachelor’s degree in international studies at the University of Michigan.

According to British tabloid Daily Mail, Zhu,  spent her first year in modest student housing at Willowtree Apartments in Ann Arbor. She shared the space with Ang Zhu, 36, a Ph.D candidate in nuclear engineering who now resides in Hong Kong. The nature of their relationship remains unclear, as Ang’s former colleagues and supervisors have expressed no knowledge of Zhu.

Zhu’s classmates also found her elusive, with none of those contacted by Daily Mail recalling her from their college days.

After graduating in 2012, Zhu moved to the Bay Area, California, where she briefly resided in an apartment near Oracle’s former headquarters in Redwood Shores. Her neighbors at the time were unaware of her identity, adding to her mysterious aura.

Zhu's connection to Ellison dates back to at least 2017, when she was photographed with him at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California. At that time, Ellison was still married to his fourth wife, Nikita Kahn, although they had separated in 2016. Their divorce was finalized in May 2020.

Zhu has rarely appeared in public with Ellison, with the last known photographs of her taken at the 2019 BNP Paribas Tennis Open. Speculation about their relationship has grown, particularly after Ellison reportedly mentioned becoming a father to two toddlers in recent years.

Now a U.S. citizen, Zhu resides with Ellison in their sprawling Florida estate, which features 33 bedrooms and 38 bathrooms. Both are registered to vote as independents.

Champions Circle, a booster group for the University of Michigan football team, thanked the couple in the statement on the successful pursuit of Underwood.

"I want to personally thank Larry and his wife Jolin who were instrumental in making this happen by providing Champions Circle with invaluable guidance and financial resources," said Nate Forbes, chairman of Champions Circle.

In the same statement, Zhu expressed her enthusiasm for Michigan Athletics:

"I am a big fan of the University of Michigan and Michigan Athletics. We are excited to support our student-athletes, so they can go compete at the highest level in college sports."

Ellison, one of the world’s richest individuals with an estimated net worth of $218.3 billion as of December 16, 2024, has had four previous marriages. His former spouses include Adda Quinn (1967–1974), Nancy Wheeler Jenkins (1977–1978), Barbara Boothe (1983–1986), and Melanie Craft (2003–2010).

While skepticism surrounds the actual marriage between Ellison and Zhu—neither have publicly confirmed their union—the implications of their association ripple through the finance and technology sectors.

The Oracle co-founder, who established the company in 1977, served as its CEO until 2014 and remains its chief technology officer and executive chairman. As of June 2024, Oracle was ranked as the second-largest company in the software and programming sector by market capitalization. Now, through Zhu's involvement, his reach could increasingly affect college sports infrastructures and related businesses.