Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, briefly surpassed Elon Musk as the world's richest person on Wednesday after Oracle shares surged more than 40% in early trading. According to Bloomberg's billionaires index, Ellison's fortune reached $393bn, edging ahead of Musk's $384bn. However, the lead was short-lived as Oracle shares closed up 36%, valuing Ellison's stake at $378bn and returning Musk to the top spot.
Oracle's strong financial results, driven by demand from AI companies for its cloud services, boosted the stock. Ellison owns a 41% stake in the business software company, which now has a market value of approximately $960bn. Other sources of Ellison's wealth include a stake in Tesla, a sailing team, the Indian Wells Open tennis tournament, and an island in Hawaii.
Ellison, 81, has a close relationship with Musk, often described as a mentor. He served on Tesla's board from 2018 to 2022 and invested $1bn in Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now X. According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk, Ellison agreed to invest “a billion dollars or whatever you recommend.” Musk is a frequent visitor to Ellison's Hawaiian island, Lanai.
Both billionaires have ties to Donald Trump. Ellison has appeared at the White House alongside Trump, including for the Stargate AI infrastructure project. Musk, a prominent backer of Trump's 2024 campaign, had a strong relationship with the president that later soured.
Musk first became the world's richest person in 2021, later losing the title to Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault before regaining it last year. The contest remains tight as Ellison's Oracle-driven wealth continues to rise.
