Oracle’s Larry Ellison relagates Elon Musk as world’s richest man after making $101bn in 24 hours

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has become the world’s richest man, overtaking Elon Musk after making $101 billion in 24 hours.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ellison’s wealth surged to $393bn on Wednesday morning, surpassing Musk’s $385bn (£284bn).

The turn was fueled by a growing demand for Oracle’s cloud and data center services, particularly from artificial intelligence companies.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz revealed the company had signed four multibillion-dollar contracts in the past quarter, with more expected in the months ahead.

Shares of Oracle jumped more than 40% by mid-morning Wednesday, marking one of the most extraordinary single-day gains ever for a company valued near $700bn.

Bloomberg noted Ellison’s wealth increase as the “largest one-day jump ever recorded” by its Billionaires Index, which will update after markets close.

The 81-year-old Ellison, who co-founded Oracle in 1977, is its largest individual shareholder.

His latest windfall cements Oracle’s position as a critical player in the AI revolution, following a landmark deal earlier this year to provide OpenAI with 4.5 gigawatts of electricity to power its software.

Musk, who first claimed the top spot in 2021, has mostly maintained it thanks to Tesla and SpaceX but has slipped before—briefly behind LVMH chief Bernard Arnault in 2021 and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2024.

Despite setbacks, Musk continues to command vast wealth, supported by a potential new Tesla pay package worth nearly $1tr if performance milestones are met.

Beyond his business empire, Ellison owns 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lana’i and is credited with revitalizing the Indian Wells tennis tournament, called the sport’s “fifth slam.”

He also maintains close ties with President Donald Trump, regularly joining him at the White House for tech events and overseeing Oracle’s government contracts.