Budgeting For Billionaires

(CBS)  With a fortune estimated at $17 billion, Larry Ellison is so rich he spends $55,000 a day on what his accountant calls "lifestyle" expenses. It's a lifestyle few of us can even imagine, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

Its no secret Ellison, the founder of software company Oracle, spends exuberantly: $100 million went into his unsuccessful attempt to win the America's Cup sailing race.

"I'm addicted to winning. The more you win, the more you want to win," Ellison told 60 Minutes in a 2004 interview.

He's rumored to have spent $200 million building a Japanese-style estate above Silicon Valley. Now, documents filed in a since settled lawsuit charging insider trading are giving an inside look at the billionaire's budget. A handwritten note from Ellison's accountant sets out expenditures: $194 million on a new yacht, $25 million on a villa in Japan and $20 million a year on "lifestyle."

Worried about your credit card bill? Ellison spent $75 million in interest payments on bank loans.

Carrie Kirby of the San Francisco Chronicle first turned up the documents that reveal Ellison spends big, and borrows big. Her investigation found that in 2000 he was $1.2 billion in debt, having borrowed hundreds of millions from three different banks simultaneously.

"Wouldn't you loan money to him?" she asks Blackstone. "He's good for it, right?"

Ellison declined to comment for this story but the documents show one way he may not be much different than the rest of us. He has somebody nagging him about spending too much. An e-mail from Ellison's accountant reads: "I'm worried, Larry…New purchases should be kept to a minimum."

It seems, however, that Ellison paid little mind to the advice given by his accountant. He later went on a beachfront buying spree in Malibu — spending $200 million on a string of luxury properties.