Larry Ellison has officially dethroned Elon Musk to claim the title of world’s richest person, with his net worth soaring past $386 billion following Oracle’s extraordinary stock performance.
The software giant’s shares exploded by more than a third on Wednesday, catapulting Ellison’s wealth above Musk’s $384 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
Oracle’s stunning financial results have redefined expectations in the cloud computing sector, with CEO Safra Catz describing it as an “astonishing quarter.”
The company secured four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers during the three months ending in August, demonstrating the explosive demand for AI infrastructure services.
The tech company’s bookings skyrocketed to an unprecedented $455 billion in the quarter, dramatically surpassing the previous period’s $138 billion and far exceeding analyst expectations.
Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss called the extraordinary $332 billion in bookings “not only the biggest bookings number we’ve ever seen in software, but a fundamental shift in the business model towards a data centre operator.”
Musk’s wealth decline reflects Tesla’s challenging period, with the electric vehicle company’s stock falling 25% since December amid consumer backlash over his Trump administration involvement and investor concerns about cancelled EV initiatives.
His 16% Tesla stake, currently valued at approximately $187 billion, contrasts sharply with Ellison’s 41% Oracle ownership driving his wealth surge.
Oracle’s late pivot to cloud computing has proven remarkably profitable, particularly through high-profile partnerships including the $500 billion Stargate project with OpenAI and SoftBank.
The company’s infrastructure revenue is projected to jump from $18 billion this year to $144 billion within five years, nearly 60% higher than Wall Street’s $91 billion expectations.
Oracle has increased its capital spending forecast by $10 billion to $35 billion for the fiscal year ending next May, positioning itself to meet surging AI inferencing demand.
CEO Ellison emphasized that “people are running out of inferencing capacity,” highlighting that the inferencing market significantly exceeds the training market in size and potential.
The landmark deal with OpenAI, worth approximately $30 billion annually for 4.5 gigawatts of computing power, exemplifies Oracle’s transformation into a major cloud infrastructure provider.
This partnership requires Oracle to develop multiple data centers across the United States, building on its existing 1.2GW facility in Abilene, Texas.
Oracle’s market capitalization surged from $678 billion to $942 billion on Wednesday, with shares gaining over 40% year-to-date before the 39% single-day jump.
While the company’s latest quarterly revenue of $14.9 billion slightly missed Wall Street’s $15 billion expectation, adjusted net income rose 8% to $4.3 billion, exceeding analyst forecasts and cementing Ellison’s position atop the global wealth rankings.