Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has become the world’s richest man, surpassing Elon Musk, after Oracle shares soared following strong AI-driven earnings. Ellison’s net worth hit USD 393 billion, while Musk’s fell amid Tesla’s 14 perc stock drop. Bloomberg crowned Ellison the richest, though Forbes still places Musk on top with USD 439 billion.
Larry Ellison. Pic/AFP
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has clinched the title of the world's richest man from long-time holder Elon Musk during the early hours of Wednesday. According to wealth tracker Bloomberg, the stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading.
Larry Ellison, a college dropout, is now worth USD 393 billion, reports say – several billion more than Musk, who became the world's richest for the first time four years ago.
Stock in one of Musk's biggest holdings, Tesla, has been moving in the opposite direction of Oracle's, dropping 14 per cent so far this year as of Tuesday, which has significantly lowered his net worth.
Moreover, the switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle, powered by multibillion-dollar orders from customers as the artificial intelligence race heats up.
As reported by news agency AP, another news organisation with a long history of tallying the world's richest – Forbes – still has Musk at the top, at USD 439 billion. Bloomberg put his net worth at USD 385 billion. The difference is partly in how the two estimate the value of Musk's private holdings, which include rocket maker SpaceX and the former Twitter, now called X.
With Ellison's rising fortune on Wednesday, he could pay the lifestyles of 5 million American families for a year – or roughly the entire population of Florida – allowing them to all quit their jobs, assuming the US median household income.
Or Ellison could simply tell South Africa to go on holiday for a year and create nothing, based on its GDP.
Ellison controls almost 40 per cent of Oracle; therefore, its soaring stock increased USD 100 billion to his net worth in less than half an hour after the market opened. When the corporation reported earnings, it revealed more than USD 300 billion in new contracts. It said it now anticipates revenue from its cloud infrastructure division to increase by 77 per cent to USD 18 billion this fiscal year. The figure will then climb to USD 144 billion four years later.
Ellison said about the bold projections, "AI changes everything," as per news agency AP.
Furthermore, Elon Musk is hoping the same for Tesla and his own net worth, but he's been struggling to convince investors.
While Elon Musk keeps talking up the Tesla future, though, the bad news keeps coming. Tesla sales in the European Union plunged 40 per cent earlier this summer – the seventh month in a row of drops – as customers baulked at buying his cars after he took to X to support extreme right-wing politicians there. The company has been losing market share in the US too, as buyers angry with his embrace of Donald Trump have stayed away from Tesla showrooms.
(With inputs from AP)
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