Ellison's wealth increased by $26 billion to total $243 billion after Oracle's quarterly results exceeded expectations.
Larry Ellison has regained the second position on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest individuals after shares of his company Oracle surged to a record value following the release of its quarterly earnings.
This shift represents a notable development in the rankings amidst the ongoing advancement in artificial intelligence technology.
Ellison's net worth rose by $26 billion, reaching a total of $243 billion by Thursday noon, marking the largest single-day increase among billionaires, as reported by Forbes.
This increase allowed Ellison to surpass Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose wealth totals $227 billion, as well as Meta CEO
Mark Zuckerberg, who holds $239 billion, thus reclaiming the second position in the real-time billionaire rankings.
Currently, Ellison's wealth trails only that of his long-time friend
Elon Musk, whose estimated net worth stands at $411 billion.
The rise in Oracle's stock price followed the company’s quarterly earnings report, which indicated a record share price exceeding $200.
Oracle’s stock jumped more than 14% after announcing earnings of $1.70 per share and revenues of $15.9 billion for the quarter that ended last month, surpassing New York Wall Street expectations.
Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnik characterized these results as a 'turning point' for Oracle, mentioning in a client note that when Ellison speaks about entering a 'new era of cloud computing', stakeholders should pay close attention.
This remark underscores Oracle's strategic positioning as a key player in generative and agent-based artificial intelligence.
The fiscal year 2026 for Oracle, which commences this month, is anticipated to be a pivotal moment for the company’s core cloud infrastructure services driven by 'huge demand for AI training,' according to TD Cowen analyst Derek Wood.
Oracle, a massive enterprise software company, is well-known for its cloud services and data storage capabilities, particularly for hosting data from the social media platform TikTok in the United States.
Ellison owns approximately 41% of Oracle, a company he co-founded in 1977. The 80-year-old billionaire is no stranger to the public eye, having served on
Tesla's board of directors from 2018 to 2022 and donating at least $20 million in support of Republican candidates during the 2022 midterm elections.
He also made headlines for purchasing a Hawaiian island for $300 million and significantly contributed to a record sum paid to attract a top young quarterback to the University of Michigan football team, where his 33-year-old wife Kere Zhu graduated.
Ellison was seen alongside President
Donald Trump in January to promote Project Stargate, a joint venture involving Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI, aimed at accelerating U.S. advancements in artificial intelligence.