Larry Ellison Overtakes Musk As World’s Richest Man As Wealth Climbs $393BN -

Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has displaced Elon Musk as the world’s richest person after shares of Oracle, the company he co-founded nearly five decades ago, surged on the back of soaring demand from artificial intelligence firms.

Recall that Ellison’s fortune climbed to $393bn on Wednesday, overtaking Musk’s $385bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The boost came after Oracle reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and projected more growth in its cloud business, which now powers AI giants such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Oracle made its name building databases that allow big organisations to securely store and manage massive amounts of information.

In recent years, however, the company has shifted its focus to cloud computing, running huge data centres that rent out computing power, storage, and networking to other businesses.

This move has paid off in the age of artificial intelligence, where companies such as OpenAI need enormous processing power to train and run their models.

Instead of building their own data centres, many of these AI firms rely on Oracle’s infrastructure, and the surge in demand for this service has driven Oracle’s shares sharply higher.

Ellison co-founded Oracle in 1977 alongside Bob Miner and Ed Oates. It was originally called Software Development Laboratories,

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Their early contract with the CIA led to the creation of “Oracle,” a database program that launched the company into prominence.

By 1987, Oracle had become the world’s largest database management firm and later expanded through high-profile acquisitions such as PeopleSoft, Sun Microsystems, and NetSuite.

Ellison’s Leadership Roles

Ellison, now 81, has served in multiple leadership roles, including nearly four decades as Oracle CEO before stepping aside in 2014 to become executive chairman and chief technology officer.

(FILES) Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, gestures as he makes a speech during the New Economy Summit 2014 in Tokyo on April 9, 2014. More than 1,000 business leaders, entrepreneurs, businessmen and students took part in the two-day forum. Oracle shares surged more than 35 percent in early trading on September 10, 2025, after the software giant projected massive revenue growth based on contracts tied to artificial intelligence. The surge will significantly boost the wealth of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, who could potentially surpass Elon Musk as the world’s richest person. (Photo by TORU YAMANAKA / AFP)

Under his guidance, the company shifted aggressively into cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

Its $500bn “Stargate” initiative, unveiled this year, aims to build massive data centres tailored for artificial intelligence.

Beyond business, Ellison owns 98% of Lanai, Hawaii’s sixth-largest island.

(FILES) Masayoshi Son (L), Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, Larry Ellison (C), Executive Charmain Oracle and Sam Altman (R), CEO of Open AI listen to US President Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. Oracle shares surged more than 35 percent in early trading on September 10, 2025, after the software giant projected massive revenue growth based on contracts tied to artificial intelligence. The surge will significantly boost the wealth of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, who could potentially surpass Elon Musk as the world’s richest person. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

He has also poured millions into sailing, backing Oracle Team USA’s America’s Cup triumph and co-founding the SailGP league. He is also known for revitalising the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California.

His political donations, often favouring Republicans, have kept him close to Washington, where he has recently appeared alongside AI and tech leaders in policy discussions.

Ellison has also expanded into media, acquiring nearly half of Paramount Skydance in 2025, a $28bn entertainment powerhouse led by his son David.

His daughter, Megan, is a celebrated Hollywood producer behind films such as Zero Dark Thirty and American Hustle. David produced blockbusters like The Terminator and Mission: Impossible.

While Tesla’s stock has stumbled this year, dragging Musk down the rankings, Oracle’s transformation into an AI cloud giant has pushed Ellison to the top for the first time in his long career.