Sailors at Sausalito’s Schoonmaker Marina noticed that “Izanami” spelled backwards is “I’m a Nazi.” The German-built detail made it worse. Ellison quietly renamed the yacht to Ronin and later sold it to Venezuelan banker Victor Vargas.
This 1999 footnote is resurfacing now because Ellison’s family recently acquired Paramount and TikTok’s U.S. operations. At 81, the world’s fourth-richest person has spent lavishly on anti-aging research in hopes of reaching 150, a $30 million safari park in Florida, $24 million in Pierre Hotel units, and 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lānaʻi.