Thanks to a soaring price for Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) stock on Wednesday, there's a new richest person in the world. While Oracle missed its first-quarter estimates from analysts, the company's guidance has Wall Street taking notice.
Larry Ellison Tops Leaderboard
For the first time, Oracle co-founder and chief technology officer Larry Ellison is the wealthiest person in the world. Ellison, who co-founded the company nearly 50 years ago, passed Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk for the title.
Ellison is worth nearly $400 billion as of Wednesday, according to Bloomberg, surpassing Musk’s $385 billion wealth.
With Oracle stock up 40%, Ellison has gained over $100 billion in wealth, marking the largest one-day gain for a billionaire, according to Bloomberg.
Ellison and Musk are forever connected, with the Oracle co-founder previously serving on the electric vehicle company's board of directors and owning a stake in the company. Ellison’s $1 billion investment in Tesla in 2018 served as a key financial commitment for the billionaire and the company at the time.
Musk took the title as the world's richest person in 2021 and held the title for some time before losing it to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault on several occasions. Musk reclaimed the title in 2024 and was the world's richest person for over 300 days before Ellison's surge.
Ellison owns 41% of Oracle, a stake that has been boosted thanks to the company's aggressive buybacks in recent years. Ellison owned 22% of the company 15 years ago, but the buybacks and minimal selling have boosted his stake, according to Forbes.
Along with his stake in Oracle, Ellison has a stake in Tesla and owns around 50% of Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY). Ellison helped finance the merger between Paramount and Skydance, a company run by his son David Ellison.
Data from Forbes shows Ellison is worth $399 billion, nearly hitting the $400 billion mark. Musk was the first person worth $400 billion back in 2024. Forbes shows a wealth of $439.6 billion for Musk, making Ellison still in second place in their rankings.
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Oracle's Growth
On Wednesday, Oracle shares hit new all-time highs of $345.72, making it the 12th most valuable public company in the world, gaining three spots on the leaderboard.
Wednesday marks Oracle's largest one-day gain and could be a sign of things to come.
The company stated that it expects $18 billion in cloud infrastructure revenue, up 77% year-over-year. Oracle also expects cloud infrastructure revenue to hit $32 billion, $73 billion, $114 billion, and $144 billion, respectively, for the next four fiscal years.
"We will build and operate more cloud infrastructure data than all of our cloud infrastructure competitors combined," Ellison said during the company's earnings call. "Oracle runs everywhere."
Ellison was the sixth richest last September and had slowly climbed into second place prior to Wednesday's gains. Time will tell how long he can hold the title of richest person in the world, as Musk has often gained the title back and could have a new pay package coming.
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