Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison has become the world’s richest person after a historic surge in Oracle’s share price boosted his net worth to $393 billion, overtaking Elon Musk’s estimated $385 billion fortune.
Bloomberg reported that Ellison’s wealth jumped by $101 billion following Oracle’s strong quarterly earnings, marking the largest one-day increase ever recorded on its Billionaires Index. Oracle shares soared 41 percent on Wednesday — the company’s biggest single-day gain since 1992 — lifting its market value to nearly $700 billion and putting it on course to potentially cross the $1 trillion mark.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz said the company signed four multibillion-dollar contracts in the quarter and is positioned to secure more as demand for AI-driven computing power accelerates. “Oracle has become a key provider of infrastructure that powers AI companies’ enormous demands for computing power,” she noted.
The company has deepened its role in the AI sector, including a deal announced in July to supply OpenAI with 4.5 gigawatts of electricity for its operations. Analysts described Oracle’s $455 billion AI services backlog as “staggering,” underscoring its growing dominance in cloud services and database software.
Ellison, 81, co-founded Oracle in 1977 and remains its largest shareholder. His rise comes amid a broader AI-fuelled rally that has pushed Nvidia’s valuation above $4 trillion and briefly lifted Microsoft into the same range.
Ellison’s leap in wealth places him ahead of Musk, who first claimed the top spot in 2021 but has since traded positions with other billionaires, including Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos.
