The Billionaire, His Mystery Wife & College Football’s Wildest Recruiting Saga (Michigan)

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When the University of Michigan football team’s boosters announced on Nov. 21 that they had flipped the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country from Louisiana State to Ann Arbor, it sent shock waves through the sport.

The on-field implications were only a part of the surprise. Just as stunning was how the Wolverines had pulled it off: with the help of a surprise donation from the world’s fourth-richest man, tech billionaire Larry Ellison. The strangest part was that Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, had no known connection to the school.

But in recent days, it has emerged that Ellison does have a close, previously unknown link to Michigan after all. Out of nowhere, a statement from a Michigan booster group known as the Champions Circle singled out Ellison and Jolin, whom the group identified as his wife, as key players in the school’s pursuit of Bryce Underwood, the top-rated high-school quarterback in the country.

That statement appeared to reveal that Ellison, who divorced his fourth wife more than a decade ago, had remarried. Jolin, meanwhile, had almost no online presence.

Now, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found that Jolin is a 33-year-old also known as Keren Zhu, according to two people familiar with the couple and several public records. And most importantly, she happens to be a Michigan alum.

Keren Zhu, also known as Jolin Zhu, was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in International Studies from Michigan on April 26, 2012, the school confirmed.

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Larry Ellison and Jolin didn’t answer requests for comment and representatives at Oracle didn’t comment.

The mystery surrounding Jolin’s identity was the biggest twist in a recruiting saga that ranks among the wildest in recent memory, even by the already absurd standards of college football. It also drew in NFL legend Tom Brady and the disgraced former team staffer at the center of the sign-stealing controversy that overshadowed Michigan’s 2023 national championship. And all of it happened to burst into the open just as unranked Michigan was preparing for the biggest game of its season—Saturday’s stunning upset of No. 2 Ohio State.

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A coup of this scale was a rare cause for celebration in what had been a frustrating season for the defending national champions. Underwood, a five-star, 6-foot-4 quarterback from nearby Belleville High School, had been committed to LSU since January after Tigers boosters had promised him a sizable payout under new rules that allow college players to be paid for their name, image, and likeness.

Michigan, a bastion of college tradition, had been slow to embrace the sport’s new highest-bidder era. (Archrival Ohio State had no such trepidation, confirming that its 2024 football roster was getting $20 million.)

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With Ellison on board, Michigan decided to re-up its interest in the player who seemed born to quarterback the Wolverines. In early September, following a loss to Texas, people close to the Michigan program began a full-court press to land Underwood.

First, he heard from coaches. Then, Michigan football’s general manager, Sean Magee, invited Bryce and his father, Jay, to join a videoconference. Also on the line were Ellison and Jolin.

In the Zoom call, the billionaire recounted his upbringing on the South Side of Chicago. He told Underwood that his birthplace didn’t determine his station in life, so long as he worked hard and made sacrifices. Jolin spoke about her time as a Michigan student and her desire to put the Wolverines back on top.

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The Underwoods were a little surprised to discover that Ellison—who attended Illinois and the University of Chicago, but didn’t graduate—was now pulling for Michigan.

“I guess happy wife, happy life,” Jay Underwood said.

But soon the Underwood family found themselves talking to a much more famous Wolverine. A few days afterward, Bryce was in the car with his parents when his phone rang with a FaceTime call.

“Dad, it’s Tom,” he told his father.

‘Tom who?’ Jay Underwood replied.

“Tom Brady.”

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Jay Underwood said that the money offered by LSU and Michigan was “pretty much even.”

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Altogether, Jay Underwood said he expected his son’s earnings to exceed $15 million during his Michigan career.

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