A woman who took just $500 to give up any claim on her ex-husband’s company in her divorce went on to watch him become a self-made billionaire and the fourth richest man on the planet.
While money is far from everything, this one’s got to sting just a little.
Ex-wife of billionaire Larry Ellison made the decision to release any claim on her husband’s database company for just $500 during divorce proceedings.
However, at the time, ex-wife Nancy Wheeler was unaware that the company would explode and become tech giant Oracle, which is now estimated to be worth over $300 million.
Growing up, Larry Ellison shared that his dream was to become a doctor, as he believed that to be the ‘pinnacle of success‘ at the time, saying at a 2016 University of South California commencement ceremony: “Virtually everyone important in my life — my family, my teachers, my girlfriend — wanted me to be a doctor.
“Over time, their dreams became my dreams. They convinced me that I should be a doctor.”
As much as he tried his hand at the healthcare profession, he later dropped out of college admitting that his heart wasn’t in it.
“At the time I thought I lacked discipline and that I was selfish,” Ellison shared. “Maybe so.
“But whatever the underlying reasons, I was unable to make myself into the person that I thought I should be. So I decided to stop trying.”
After dropping out of college, Ellison split his time between being an environmentalist and beginning a new business in computer programming, a decision that he said was a ‘self discovery journey’, but admitted that his wife at the time ‘wasn’t happy’ with his choice.
“I had found a cause. I had a couple of jobs that I loved and one that was fun and paid the bills. I was pretty happy with my life — but my wife was not,” Ellison admitted.
Ellison and Nancy were married for a total of just one year before calling it quits in 1978, with Nancy agreeing to dissolve herself from the company for the fee of just $500.
According to Forbes Billionaires Index, Ellison is now the fourth richest man in the world, with a net worth of $107 billion following the success of Oracle, as well as previously being on the board of directors for Tesla.
He reportedly now owes an $173 million property in Florida, and at one point partially owned one of the biggest yachts in the world following his financial success.