Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has become the world’s second richest individual after a stunning $40 billion increase in his net worth over two days, reaching $258 billion, according to Forbes.
The dramatic rise follows a surge in Oracle’s stock price, which climbed 13% on Thursday and 7% by mid-Friday after the company posted strong quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Oracle’s shares hit a record high of around $215, boosting its market capitalization by $104 billion—surpassing the total value of companies like Intel and Nike.
Ellison, who owns 41% of Oracle, saw his personal fortune grow by $25 billion on Thursday and $16 billion on Friday. This leap pushed him ahead of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg on the Forbes real-time billionaires list, second only to Elon Musk, who holds a net worth of $414 billion.
The earnings report that triggered the rally highlighted Oracle’s revenue of $15.9 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.70 per share, driven by strong demand for its cloud infrastructure, particularly for artificial intelligence workloads.
Analysts have called the results a turning point for Oracle. Deutsche Bank’s Brad Zelnick described it as a "watershed event," while TD Cowen's Derrick Wood projected rapid growth for the company in its new fiscal year, underpinned by AI-driven expansion.
At 80, Ellison remains an influential figure in tech and politics. He has supported GOP campaigns, served on Tesla’s board, and recently co-launched Stargate, an AI infrastructure project with SoftBank and OpenAI, announced alongside former President Donald Trump.
Oracle’s momentum reflects growing investor confidence in companies powering the AI revolution—with Ellison and his company now at the forefront.