One of Michigan's most powerful boosters allegedly threatened to stop donating unless the school fired its head football coach.
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Jolin Ellison, the wife of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has emerged as a major behind-the-scenes figure in Michigan athletics, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Ellisons have reportedly contributed roughly $10 million to the school's name, image and likeness efforts.
Former Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore told a colleague in November 2025 that athletic director Warde Manuel informed him Jolin would withdraw her financial support if Moore remained employed, according to the Journal. Ellison denied making that threat.
"I was contributing to Michigan athletics at the time and continued afterward, regardless of the change in head coach," she said.
Ellison acknowledged meeting with Manuel before Moore's dismissal, however. She said she told the athletic director Moore should not remain coach if rumors involving an alleged relationship with a staff member were proven true.
Michigan fired Moore on Dec. 10 following an investigation into that alleged relationship. He was later arrested on charges including home invasion and stalking.
Former staffers also described Ellison as unusually involved with the program. Moore reportedly complained that she frequently called and texted him and eventually assigned another staff member to serve as her primary contact.
Ellison disputed that portrayal, saying she sent Moore only three texts between September and December and may have called him once.
Her influence is not in dispute.
Ellison helped Michigan flip quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU with an NIL package reportedly worth at least $10 million. She has also hosted prominent Michigan figures at the family's Florida estate and contributed to the school's basketball program.
"I'm a fan, not a coach or an investor," Ellison told the Journal.
That distinction is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain in college sports, where the people supplying millions inevitably receive more access than the people buying season tickets.
