Honestly, if you were trying to find Keren Zhu online three years ago, you’d have come up with basically nothing. She was a ghost. A digital shadow.
Then suddenly, the sports world—specifically the University of Michigan football scene—started buzzing. Why? Because Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison was suddenly deep-pocketing some of the biggest NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals in college history. And standing right there in the middle of it was a woman people were calling "Jolin" or Keren Zhu.
It turns out, she isn't just some socialite on the arm of the world’s third-richest man. She’s his fifth wife. Or sixth, depending on how you count his long-term partners. But the weirdest part? She’s 47 years younger than him.
Who Is Keren Zhu?
Keren Zhu (who also goes by Jolin Zhu) didn't grow up in the Silicon Valley bubble. She was born in Shenyang, China. She moved to the U.S. around 2010 to study at the University of Michigan.
Back then, she wasn't living in $100 million mansions. Records show she was sharing a modest student apartment at Willowtree in Ann Arbor where the rent was about $880 a month. Imagine that. One decade you're splitting an $800 bill in a college town, and the next, you’re married to a guy worth $245 billion who owns his own Hawaiian island.
She graduated in 2012 with a degree in International Studies.
For a long time, the public had no idea who she was. Even her college classmates, when poked by reporters later, barely remembered her. She was quiet. Elusive. Some people in the tech world even got paranoid about her background, whispering about "honey traps" and espionage because of the U.S.-China tech war, but there’s never been any proof of that. She’s just a private person who happens to be married to a guy who lives his life in the loudest way possible.
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How the Marriage Became Public
Larry Ellison is 81 now. He’s been married four times before: Adda Quinn, Nancy Wheeler Jenkins, Barbara Boothe, and the novelist Melanie Craft. He also had a very long, high-profile relationship with Nikita Kahn.
But the Keren Zhu marriage wasn't announced with a Vogue spread or a press release.
It came out through a thank-you note from a college football booster club.
In late 2024, the "Champions Circle" (a Michigan booster group) released a statement thanking Larry and his "wife Jolin" for their "invaluable guidance and financial resources." They were talking about the $10.5 million deal to bring star quarterback Bryce Underwood to Michigan.
Basically, the world found out Larry Ellison had a new wife because she’s a massive Michigan Wolverines fan and wanted her team to win.
Life at the Top (and the Age Gap)
Let's address the elephant in the room. The age gap is huge. Keren is 34. Larry is 81.
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That makes her ten years younger than Larry’s son, David Ellison, who runs Skydance Media. It’s the kind of thing that makes people gossip at dinner parties, but by all accounts, they’ve been together much longer than people realize. They were first spotted together at a tennis tournament in Indian Wells back in 2017.
They currently live a pretty nomadic, ultra-rich lifestyle. They’re registered to vote in Florida at a $173 million estate in Palm Beach that has something like 33 bedrooms. But they also spend time at his Japanese-style estate in Woodside, California.
- Birth Name: Zhu Keren
- English Name: Jolin Zhu
- Education: University of Michigan (Class of 2012)
- Marriage Status: Married to Larry Ellison (confirmed roughly late 2024/2025)
- Citizenship: U.S. Citizen (Naturalized)
Why This Matters for Oracle and Beyond
You might think a billionaire’s wife is just "background noise" for a company like Oracle. You’d be wrong.
Larry Ellison has been more active than ever lately, especially with the AI boom. Oracle’s stock has been hitting record highs, briefly making him the richest man in the world in late 2025. People who know him say he’s revitalized. Whether that’s the "AI revolution" or his personal life, he’s moving with the energy of a man half his age.
Keren’s influence is mostly seen in his philanthropic shifts. The Michigan football involvement was a huge departure for Larry. He’s usually into sailing and tennis. Suddenly, he’s the king of college football NIL deals? That’s all Keren.
Common Misconceptions
People often confuse this Keren Zhu with another Dr. Keren Zhu who is a policy researcher at RAND. That’s a totally different person. The "Larry Ellison Keren Zhu" doesn't have a public LinkedIn or a career in international policy research. She’s kept her professional life—if she has one outside of managing the Ellison family office—completely under wraps.
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There’s also the "secret children" rumor. Ellison has mentioned in passing that he has toddlers again. If that’s true, Keren is likely the mother of the newest generation of Ellison heirs. This would mean there are kids who will eventually inherit pieces of an empire that includes 98% of the island of Lanai and a massive chunk of Tesla stock.
What You Should Know Now
If you’re following the story of Keren Zhu and Larry Ellison, don't expect a tell-all interview anytime soon. She seems perfectly content staying out of the spotlight while her husband battles Elon Musk for the top spot on the Forbes list.
The couple is currently focusing on:
- Massive AI infrastructure: Larry is spending billions on data centers.
- College Sports: Expect more "mystery" donations to Michigan.
- Real Estate: They continue to shuffle between their estates in Florida, California, and Hawaii.
The biggest takeaway here? The era of the "celebrity billionaire wife" who wants to be on every magazine cover is over. The new power players, like Keren Zhu, are the ones you never see coming until the deal is already signed.
To stay updated on how this power dynamic affects Oracle's stock or major sports philanthropy, keep an eye on SEC filings and University of Michigan booster reports, as those are often the only places her name actually appears.