Larry Ellison once called his new yacht “Izanami” - until someone spotted an embarrassing flaw

Larry Ellison's old boat - it's no longer called the "Izanami"

The name a billionaire calls their superyacht sends a message — often pretentious. Some years ago, when Larry Ellison was mulling what to call his new 191-foot blue water toy, he looked to Asian mythology. His choice? “IZANAMI.” 

Wikipedia has this to say on the subject:

Izanami and Izanagi are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the storm god Susanoo. In mythology, she is the direct ancestor of the Japanese imperial family. 

[I left the links intact for anyone wanting to brush up on their Japanese creation mythology.]

For a would-be master of the universe, a world creator probably struck him as about right. Besides, the oriental allusion conjures up all manner of inscrutable mysteries. And it adds a veneer of sophistication to new money striving for a patina of respectability.

However, Ellison’s choice proved to have a flaw. Someone noticed that Izanami spelled backwards is “I’M A NAZI.” 

When Ellison realized the PR hiccup, he renamed the superyacht “RONIN.” Still pretentious but less controversial. He then sold it to Venezuelan banker Víctor Vargas — probably hoping no one would notice. It worked for a while, but the internet sleuths never rest. And here we are. 

I’ll grant you, this is hardly the most significant story of the day. But it does illustrate that while billionaires likely hold themselves in high regard, when it comes to error, they are just as fallible as the rest of us. Except they have the power, money, and influence to hurt far more people with their screw-ups.