Larry Ellison, the 81-year-old co-founder of Oracle, has leapfrogged Elon Musk to become the world’s richest individual after a surge in demand for artificial intelligence services sent Oracle shares soaring.
The company’s stock jumped more than 40 per cent in New York trading on Wednesday, boosting Ellison’s net worth by $101 billion in a single day and taking his total fortune to $393 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
The dramatic rise underscores the extraordinary wealth being generated by the AI boom, which is transforming the fortunes of technology companies and their founders. Ellison, who still owns 41 per cent of Oracle, co-founded the software giant in 1977 and has been its driving force for nearly five decades. Today, the group is reaping record demand for cloud computing services as businesses invest heavily in generative AI.
Ellison’s business interests extend far beyond Oracle. He has a stake in Tesla, owns the Hawaiian island of Lanai, and bankrolls SailGP, the global yacht racing league he launched in 2019. Known for his lavish lifestyle, he has also built a family dynasty, with his son David Ellison now at the helm of Paramount following a high-profile takeover, which saw the Stephen Colbert Show cancelled allegedly to ensure the takeover passed President Trump’s media watchdog.
Ellison’s ascent marks a new milestone in Silicon Valley’s reshaping of global wealth, as AI’s winners consolidate their position at the top of the financial hierarchy. Musk, with a net worth of $385 billion, now trails the Oracle founder in second place, underlining how quickly fortunes can shift in the high-stakes world of technology.