Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corp., temporarily dethroned Elon Musk as the richest man in the world on Wednesday. Following what Oracle’s chief executive called an “astonishing quarter” in which the tech giant signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts, Oracle’s stock surged by as much as 40 per cent and Ellison’s fortune rose by US$101 billion, before falling back slightly and dropping him to second place. But who is Ellison, what is Oracle and why is it booming? 

Who is Larry Ellison?

Ellison, 81, is the co-founder, chief technology officer and chairman of cloud computing titan Oracle Corp., of which he owns more than 40 per cent.

He was born in 1944 in the Bronx, N.Y., but was raised on the south side of Chicago after being adopted by his aunt and uncle, as his mother was an unwed teenager. He dropped out of the University of Illinois after his adopted mother died in his second year during final exams, and later, the University of Chicago as well.

Despite having no degree, Ellison learned the basics of computer programming, and moved to Berkeley, Calif. He had just enough money for fast food and a few tanks of gas, after blowing most of his funds on a turquoise 1964 Thunderbird convertible at the time, according to a 1997 Vanity Fair article.

But he bounced from job to job, picking up more experience, and eventually took a computer programming stint at Ampex Data Systems Corporation where he worked on a database that bore the codename “Oracle,” for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Ellison co-founded his own company in 1977 with fellow engineers Bob Miner and Ed Oates, which they first named Software Development Laboratories (SDL). The trio launched the company with just US$2,000.

He was chief executive of the company — later renamed Oracle — for about 37 years, until he stepped down from its helm in 2014.

What is Oracle?

Oracle, one of the largest software companies in the world, is headquartered in Austin, Tex.

It manufactures and sells cloud applications and database software to businesses, helping them to store, manage and analyze their data. The company claims its Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse is the world’s first autonomous database, which automatically upgrades and patches itself to protect against cyberattacks.

Oracle went public in 1986 and has since acquired a slew of companies, including Sun Microsystems, a software development company that developed the Java programming language.

In 2022, Oracle added healthcare records company Cerner Corporation (which was renamed Oracle Health) to its roster, and in 2023, announced it was integrating generative AI into its cloud applications.

During Oracle’s latest earnings call, Ellison said everyone from company chief executives to heads of state want to use AI, but use it securely – something Oracle is able to deliver on with its software.

“I think the demand is going to be insatiable,” Ellison said. “But we can deliver a lot of databases and a lot of AI across our cloud over the next several years. We’re in a good position to do that.”

On the company website, Oracle says it has 469 independent user communities in 97 countries spanning over one million members.

Why did his fortune surge?

On Tuesday, Oracle’s latest earnings report stunned analysts when it projected its AI-driven cloud infrastructure could grow 14-fold and rake in US$144 billion over the next five years. The report also mentioned the tech giant had signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers in the first quarter of the year.

“It was an astonishing quarter — and demand for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure continues to build,” said the company’s chief executive, Safra Catz, in the news release. “Over the next few months, we expect to sign-up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO (Remaining Performance Obligations) is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars.”

As a result, Oracle’s shares skyrocketed by more than 35 per cent, lifting Ellison’s fortune by as much as US$101 billion during the day to push him past Elon Musk as the wealthiest man in the world. Ellison had a fortune of US$393 billion, ahead of Musk’s $385 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, but by Thursday he had fallen back to second place.

“I think we’re all kind of in shock in a very, very good way,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick during Oracle’s earnings call. “There’s no better evidence of a seismic shift happening in computing than these results that you just put up.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal also reported OpenAI had signed a massive US$300 billion contract to purchase computing power over five years from Oracle.

What else is he known for?

Aside from his penchant for sportscars, Ellison flies a private jet, co-founded a sailing league in 2018 and bought 98 per cent of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, where he resides, for US$300 million in 2012

At one point he owned about 1.6 per cent of Musk’s Tesla Inc. before he joined its board in December 2018. However, he stepped down in 2022 and no longer has to disclose his stake.

On the “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast earlier this year, Musk called Ellison “one of the smartest people” he’s ever met.

Ellison has appeared at the White House for several tech events, including the launch of the Stargate project to invest US$500 billion in

artificial intelligence infrastructure, and is rumoured to be a leading contender to buy TikTok.

Ellison has been married five times. His daughter, Megan Ellison is an American film, television and videogame producer. She founded her production company Annapurna Pictures in 2011 and is known for producing films including American Hustle and Zero Dark Thirty.

Ellison’s son, David, also a film producer, recently became the chief executive of Paramount after a US$8 million merger with his production company Skydance Media (the company was renamed to Paramount Skydance Corporation).

Forbes reported Ellison (the elder) bankrolled the merger and has 27.5 per cent voting rights in the new company, which features about 1,200 film titles and channels like MTV, Nickelodeon and CBS News.

  • Oracle stock jumps 30% as blowout outlook fuels AI hopes
  • Oracle, OpenAI expand Stargate deal for more U.S. data centres

Who are the world’s richest people now?

Musk, whose No. 1 title Ellison briefly usurped Wednesday, was still the second wealthiest person in the world, despite his net worth (and Tesla’s stock) taking a tumble this year. However, Musk, who moved back into the top spot, could solidify his position by becoming the world’s first trillionaire if he meets multiple targets over the next decade, according to recent documents released by Tesla.

In third place is Mark Zuckerberg , co-founder and chief executive of Meta Platforms Inc. , the parent company of major social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. Zuckerberg’s net worth last stood at US$269 billion as of Sep. 9, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, well below Musk and Ellison.

Amazon.com Inc. ’s Jeff Bezos is right behind Zuckerberg with US$258 billion. Despite stepping down as chief executive of the ecommerce platform in 2021, Bezos still holds a significant stake in Amazon, but unloaded about US$5.7 billion in stock following his extravagant summer wedding in Venice. He also owns the aerospace company Blue Origin and The Washington Post newspaper.

Larry Page, the co-founder of Alphabet Inc. , parent company of search engine Google, is the fifth wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of US$210 billion. Page stepped down as chief executive in 2019 but remains chairman and a controlling shareholder.