Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison seized the title of world’s richest person Wednesday from Elon Musk after Oracle’s stock soared 41%, its biggest single-day gain since 1992.
Ellison’s wealth jumped by $101 billion to $393 billion following Oracle’s Tuesday earnings report Tuesday, shooting past Musk’s $385 billion net worth, according to Bloomberg. The outlet called Ellison’s leap the “biggest one-day increase ever recorded” by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
Oracle triggered the stock surge after CEO Safra Catz announced that the firm inked four multibillion-dollar contracts with AI customers during the quarter and anticipates finalizing several more deals soon, CNN reported. The company has a $455 billion backlog in demand for its AI services, analyst Ben Reitzes of Melius Research said.
BREAKING: Oracle, $ORCL, founder Larry Ellison gains +$107 billion in net worth today, making him the richest person in the world, worth $400 billion.
Oracle’s stock is now up +43% on the day. pic.twitter.com/v2uXQ6TY9p
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) September 10, 2025
“We’ll be talking about this one for a long time,” said, calling the backlog “staggering.”
The 81-year-old Ellison, owner of 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lana’i, dropped out of college in 1977 and was involved in creating Oracle. The company has emerged as a crucial provider of computing infrastructure for AI companies. In July, Oracle announced an agreement to provide OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — to power its AI software with 4.5 gigawatts of electricity. (RELATED: INGERSOLL: Idiots Rediscover Elon Musk)
Oracle’s stock has climbed 103% in 2025 as the company transforms into an AI powerhouse. The company now approaches $1 trillion in market value.
Musk first captured the richest person title in 2021. He was briefly surpassed two times, first by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in 2021 and later by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2024, but reclaimed the crown each time.