Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison briefly surpassed Elon Musk to become the world’s richest person on Wednesday, after a surge in Oracle’s share price pushed his net worth to $393bn (£290bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The jump, driven by strong growth projections in Oracle’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses, temporarily lifted Ellison above Musk, whose wealth stood at $385bn (£284bn). By the end of the day, however, Oracle’s stock had eased, returning Musk to the top spot.
Oracle reported a 77% revenue jump forecast for its cloud unit, worth an expected $18bn this year, citing rising demand from AI firms for data centre infrastructure. The company signed four multibillion-dollar contracts in the last quarter and said more deals are in the pipeline.
Musk, who has held the title for nearly a year, faces mounting challenges. Tesla shares have slipped this year amid investor concerns over the Trump administration’s rollback of electric vehicle policies and public backlash to Musk’s political activity.
Ellison, 81, remains Oracle’s chairman and chief technology officer. A longtime Trump ally, he has been involved in high-profile projects such as the Stargate AI infrastructure initiative, and has been floated as a potential buyer of TikTok, which faces a US ban unless it separates from its Chinese parent, ByteDance.
His influence also extends to media: Ellison backed his son David’s $8bn Skydance deal to acquire Paramount, which owns CBS and MTV, finalized last month.
