An IMGW News Report
Elon Musk has been dethroned. On Wednesday, Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, became the world’s wealthiest individual after the software giant posted results that stunned investors.
“Bloomberg called it the largest one-day wealth increase on record”
Oracle’s market value soared by $244bn in a single trading session – its biggest leap since 1992, lifting the firm to $922bn and propelling Ellison’s personal fortune to $393bn, ahead of Musk’s $385bn.
Bloomberg called it the largest one-day wealth increase on record. The catalyst was an earnings report underscoring Oracle’s rapid ascent in artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Demand for cloud capacity from AI firms has sent Oracle’s order backlog to a staggering $455bn.
“Ellison has seized the top spot in a race increasingly defined not by electric cars or luxury goods, but by the colossal computing demands of artificial intelligence”
Chief executive Safra Catz disclosed that four multibillion-dollar contracts were signed in the last quarter, with more in the pipeline. In July, Oracle agreed to supply OpenAI with 4.5 gigawatts of electricity to fuel its computing needs.
Ellison, 81, is Oracle’s largest shareholder. His rise illustrates the broader re-rating of companies that serve as the plumbing of the AI economy.
Nvidia has already become the world’s most valuable firm, worth more than $4trn, while Microsoft briefly matched that milestone. Analysts at Bank of America and Citi promptly upgraded Oracle to “buy”, noting its stock is up nearly 100% this year.
By contrast, Musk’s empire has faltered. Tesla shares are down 14% in 2025, eroding a fortune that had kept him atop the global wealth rankings since 2021, with only brief interruptions by Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos. Even so, Musk remains in line for a controversial pay package approaching $1trn, contingent on Tesla’s future performance.
Ellison, who once dropped out of college to build Oracle in 1977, now presides over a portfolio that includes 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lana’i and the Indian Wells tennis tournament. His closeness to Donald Trump has also secured Oracle a visible role in Washington.
For now, Ellison has seized the top spot in a race increasingly defined not by electric cars or luxury goods, but by the colossal computing demands of artificial intelligence.
