How He Snagged the Title of World’s Richest Person From Elon Musk

Oracle’s transformation into an AI infrastructure powerhouse has catapulted Larry Ellison ahead of Musk to take the title of the world’s richest person.

The 81-year-old database pioneer’s net worth surged by more than $100 billion following the company’s earnings report Tuesday, according to calculations published Wednesday by Bloomberg, which called the move “the biggest one-day increase ever recorded” by its Billionaire’s Index.

Ellison owns about 1.16 billion shares, or about 41% of the company. As of Tuesday’s close, those shares were worth around $280 billion. If Oracle’s stock price holds near current levels, Ellison’s stake in Oracle would propel his net worth to $393 billion, surpassing Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, whose net worth is $385 billion.

The staggering wealth increase came after Oracle announced what CEO Safra Catz called an “excellent” quarter, signing four multi-billion-dollar contracts and booking $455 billion in future cloud infrastructure revenue. Oracle’s market capitalization spiked to about $950 billion in intraday trading on Wednesday, up more than $270 billion in a single day.

Oracle’s AI Infrastructure Growth Lifts Ellison’s Stake

Oracle reported quarterly revenue of $14.9 billion, up 12% year-over-year, with cloud infrastructure revenue jumping 55% to $3.3 billion. The company’s forward-looking metrics were even more headline-making: Oracle’s remaining performance obligations (RPO)—essentially contracts for future revenue—grew to $455 billion in value, an increase of 359% year-over-year.

“Clearly, it was an excellent quarter, and demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure continues to build,” CEO Catz told investors during Tuesday’s earnings call. “I expect we will sign additional multi-billion-dollar customers and that RPO will likely grow to exceed $500 billion.” The company expects cloud infrastructure revenue to reach $18 billion this fiscal year.

Oracle’s has transformed itself from a traditional database provider into a critical player providing the infrastructure for AI companies in a desperate race for computing power.

“Oracle has become the go-to place for AI workloads,” Catz told investors, saying the company had signed contracts with OpenAI; xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company; Meta Platforms, Inc. (META); Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD); and others.

The Billionaire Race: Ellison vs. Musk

While Ellison’s fortune has grown with Oracle’s AI boom, Musk’s grip on the world’s richest title has been loosening throughout 2025. The Tesla CEO began the year with a net worth of $420 billion, which has since fallen to about $385 billion as Tesla shares have declined by about 14% year-to-date.

Tesla has struggled with increasing competition in the electric vehicle market and a softening in demand in key markets worldwide. Musk’s wealth, tied primarily to his Tesla stake, has fluctuated wildly with the automaker’s volatile stock price. Though it’s worth noting that Tesla recently floated a new compensation package for Elon Musk, aimed at retaining him, and it’s potentially worth $1 trillion.

The Bottom Line

Ellison’s record-breaking surge is part of the story of how AI infrastructure has become the new gold rush in tech, with Oracle positioning itself as the critical picks-and-shovels provider for companies racing to build their AI systems. His $100+ billion single-day gain—driven by Oracle’s $455 billion in future cloud contracts—shows that the real money in AI may not be in building chatbots or autonomous vehicles, but in providing the computing backbone these technologies require.