Larry Ellison, co-founder and chairman of Oracle Corporation, has become the world’s second richest person after a historic two-day surge in his net worth. Ellison’s fortune soared by $40 billion to reach $258 billion, propelled by a record-breaking rally in Oracle’s stock following the company’s latest earnings report.
The 80-year-old tech magnate overtook Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, now trailing only Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who remains the world’s richest individual.
Oracle shares jumped 13% on Thursday and climbed another 7% by midday Friday, trading at an all-time high of about $215 per share. The rally was triggered by Oracle’s quarterly earnings, which beat Wall Street expectations with adjusted earnings per share of $1.70 and revenue of $15.9 billion for the period ending last month.
The company’s impressive performance was largely attributed to surging demand for Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, especially as businesses race to support artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Oracle’s cloud segment has become a critical growth driver, with analysts calling the latest results a “watershed event” that could mark the beginning of an accelerated growth phase for the company.
Ellison, who owns 41% of Oracle, saw his wealth increase by $25 billion on Thursday and another $16 billion on Friday. The combined two-day gain added $104 billion to Oracle’s market capitalization, more than the entire value of major companies like Intel or Nike.
“Ellison’s net worth accordingly rocketed by more than $40 billion to $258 billion from Wednesday to Friday, enjoying easily the largest daily bump of any billionaire on both Thursday and Friday,” Forbes reported.
Oracle’s momentum is closely tied to the global shift toward AI and cloud computing. The company’s infrastructure is now a backbone for major applications and government data, and Oracle is the hosting provider for TikTok’s U.S. user data. Analysts say the expanding adoption of AI technologies is positioning Oracle as a pivotal player in the tech industry.
Brad Zelnick of Deutsche Bank described the earnings as a pivotal moment for Oracle, while Derrick Wood of TD Cowen predicted that the company’s 2026 fiscal year could bring even faster growth, driven by AI.
Despite his age, Ellison remains deeply involved in technology and politics. He has served on Tesla’s board, contributed to political campaigns, and recently helped launch Stargate, a joint AI infrastructure venture with SoftBank and OpenAI, unveiled alongside former U.S. President Donald Trump.
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