https://fortune.com/2025/08/28/larry-el ... e-portnoy/
Michigan’s power play
Underwood’s recruitment started getting interesting when Portnoy publicly pledged to spend $3 million annually to help Michigan land a top quarterback. Portnoy revealed on his podcast last November he soon got a call from the Michigan football team.
“They said, ‘Hey, there’s this donor who wants to talk to you.’ I said I’m doing this by myself, and I don’t need to talk to anybody. And they said, ‘Please, this woman is a big fan of Barstool and you; she’d love to talk to you. Her name is Jolin,'” Portnoy recalled.
Portnoy is referring to Larry Ellison’s wife, Jolin, a 33-year-old woman from China whose real name is Keren Zhu. Jolin Ellison is a Michigan alum, having graduated from the university in 2012 with a degree in international studies, and has been married to the 80-year-old tech mogul since at least 2018.
“They said, ‘Oh, her husband is a guy by the name of Larry Ellison. Have you ever heard of him?’ Oh, Larry Ellison? The No. 2 richest guy on the planet? Yeah, I’ll take that phone call,” Portnoy said.
That night, Portnoy, the Ellisons, and Underwood’s family connected on a Zoom call. Jolin Ellison, driven by her passion for Michigan athletics and memories of the program’s struggles during the Brady Hoke era, made it clear she was willing to do whatever it took to restore the Wolverines to championship contention.