Sportsman Ellison Buying A New CupSportsman Ellison Buying A New Cup

Larry Ellison wants the America's Cup, and he's willing to lay out his own money to get it.

The Oracle CEO says his team is spending $85 million to $90 million in its effort to win sailing's most famous trophy, and "the majority" of that money is coming out of his pocket. Some money for his Oracle BMW Racing team's effort is coming from sponsors, he says, including about $20 million from automaker BMW, but none is coming from Oracle's coffers.

Though the economic downturn has cut Ellison's fortune to $15 billion or so, he made headlines even before the race began when he said of America's Cup racing, "It's so cheap, I'm surprised more people don't do this."

Ellison, a champion ocean racer who's making his first bid for the America's Cup, is living on a luxury yacht off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, where the regatta is being held. He says he usually spends about five hours a day on Oracle business. He plans to return home during breaks in the four-month challenger series that will determine which boat gets to take on New Zealand in the finals in February. He's slated to speak at OracleWorld, scheduled for Nov. 10 to 14 in San Francisco.