Larry Ellison has surpassed Elon Musk as the globe’s wealthiest individual, driven by a historic surge in Oracle Corp.’s stock, which propelled his net worth by over $101 billion in just one day.
The software titan’s shares experienced a significant increase in after-hours trading on Tuesday following the announcement of quarterly earnings that revealed a substantial rise in sales and an optimistic forecast for its cloud infrastructure segment.
This momentum continued into pre-market trading and accelerated once the markets opened on Wednesday, resulting in a more than 39 percent increase in Oracle’s stock by late morning in New York.
Ellison, who co-established Oracle in 1977 and currently holds the positions of chairman and chief technology officer, possesses approximately 1.16 billion shares, equating to nearly 41% of the company’s total outstanding stock. This ownership, coupled with Oracle’s unprecedented gains, elevated Ellison’s net worth to $405 billion as of 11 a.m. ET, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In contrast, Musk’s wealth was estimated at around $384 billion.
This event represents the largest single-day increase ever documented by Bloomberg’s wealth index, underscoring the magnitude of Oracle’s resurgence and Ellison’s pivotal involvement in it.
The 81-year-old billionaire commenced Tuesday with an estimated net worth of approximately $294 billion before Oracle’s earnings report sparked a surge in investor excitement. His wealth initially surged by $70 billion during after-hours trading, subsequently extending to a triple-digit gain following Wednesday’s market opening.
This development dislodges Musk from his position atop the billionaire rankings, concluding his nearly year-long tenure as the world’s wealthiest individual. Musk, who has faced pressure on his fortune due to a 13 percent decline in Tesla’s stock this year, first rose to the top spot in 2021, frequently alternating leadership with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Oracle’s growth trajectory emphasizes its increasing prominence in the global cloud computing arena, where it is competing against formidable players such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The company’s latest results demonstrated a surge in bookings and highlighted opportunities associated with artificial intelligence, bolstering investor confidence in its long-term strategy.
This financial upswing signifies a remarkable shift for Ellison, who previously lagged significantly behind Silicon Valley’s most substantial fortunes. His ascent coincides with Oracle’s transformation from a traditional database provider into a notable contender in enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure, a transition that investors now seem to reward in an extraordinary manner.
For Musk, who continues to hold substantial interests in Tesla, SpaceX, and other enterprises, Wednesday’s upheaval serves not as a definitive conclusion, but rather as a reminder of the rapid changes that can occur in today’s unpredictable markets. However, for Ellison, this marks the first occasion he has attained the title of the world’s richest man.
