Larry Ellison, the co-founder, chairman, and CTO of Oracle, has overtaken Elon Musk to become the world's richest person. This dramatic shift in the global wealth ranking occurred on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, following a historic surge in Oracle's stock price.
Ellison's net worth soared by an astounding $101 billion in a single day, catapulting his total fortune to $393 billion. This marks the largest one-day wealth increase ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The surge in Ellison's wealth is attributed to Oracle's impressive earnings report, which revealed substantial growth in the company's cloud business and its expanding role in providing infrastructure for AI computing. Investor enthusiasm led to Oracle's shares skyrocketing as much as 41% on Wednesday, the company's most significant single-day increase since 1992. Oracle's market valuation is now nearing $947 billion. Ellison holds approximately 41% of Oracle's total outstanding shares, translating the stock surge into a massive personal gain.
Before Oracle's stock jump, Musk's net worth was approximately $384 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. While different sources provide slightly varying figures, Musk's net worth is estimated to be around $385 billion by Bloomberg and $408 billion by Forbes as of August 2025. Musk's wealth has seen fluctuations, partly due to the performance of Tesla's stock and his other ventures. Shares of Tesla are down 13% in 2025. Musk's association with the second Trump administration also impacted his net worth, resulting in a $126 billion drop between December 2024 and March 2025.
Ellison's rise to the top has ended Musk's reign of approximately 300 days. Musk first claimed the title of world's richest person in 2021 but has since been surpassed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH's Bernard Arnault.
Oracle's success is fueled by the increasing demand for its database software and cloud infrastructure, particularly from AI startups. The company reported $332 billion in bookings in its first quarter. At 81 years old, Ellison's ascent highlights his lasting influence in the technology sector and Oracle Corporation's extraordinary growth. Ellison co-founded Oracle in 1977 and served as CEO from 1977 to 2014. He currently holds the positions of chief technology officer and executive chairman.
While Ellison now holds the top spot, Musk remains a strong contender, with Tesla's board discussing a compensation plan that could potentially make him the world's first trillionaire. Musk's ownership of approximately 13% of Tesla means his fortune is closely tied to the company's performance.
