Poor little rich man
Larry Elllison must be so proud. According to this story in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ellison "has bagged a $3 million tax break after arguing that his flamboyant Japanese-style estate in Woodside is functionally obsolete."

The man is worth $25 billion and he's worried about $3 million? And who really "pays"? The money would "otherwise would have gone to schools, the county general fund and cities, among other things, Deputy Controller Kanchan Charan said. The hit to schools alone will be nearly $1.4 million." Yeah, it's not like our schools could use $1.4 million, is it? As long as Larry's got his $3 million we should all be happy.

The thing that cracks me up (as opposed to pissing me off) is that this estate of his cost $200 million to build because he wanted a 16th century Japanese warlord's country palace. And now he's arguing that his property was over-valued because there is" a finite market for high-end luxury homes, limited appeal for 16th-century Japanese architecture and the "over improvements" and "excessive" landscaping are costly to maintain." A limited appeal for 16th century Japanese architecture? No, I don't believe it.

I absolutely hate these "rich get richer" stories. The many should be giving away at least that on a regular basis to charity but instead he's tying up the courts, haggling over what would be the equivalent of $300 for the rest of us, and smugly going off to buy another ridiculous boat.