> who is lending the money for these leveraged buyout deals? They seem to leave the lenders holding the bag at some point when it all implodes. Do these deals really pay off often enough to be worth financing them?

For this deal, it is:

- ~$57b Debt financing: Bank of America, Citigroup, Apollo

- ~$46b Equity backing: Ellison's dad, RedBird Capital Partners

- Sovereign wealth funds on the equity side: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi