Elon Musk temporarily ceded his position as the world’s richest person to Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and close ally of US President Donald Trump.
Ellison’s net worth surged to $393bn (£290bn) on Wednesday morning, surpassing Musk’s $385bn (£284bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The leap followed a more than 40% rally in Oracle shares, fuelled by strong forecasts for its cloud infrastructure business and major artificial intelligence (AI) contracts.
By the end of the trading day, however, Oracle stock had trimmed its gains, putting Musk back at the top. Musk had held the crown for nearly a year.
The Tesla chief could yet secure a pay package worth over $1tn (£740bn) if he meets a series of ambitious long-term targets proposed by the company’s board. But Tesla shares have struggled this year, weighed down by investor concerns over the Trump administration’s rollback of electric vehicle policies and consumer backlash to Musk’s political activity.
Oracle, meanwhile, has been riding a wave of demand for data centre infrastructure. The firm projected on Tuesday that revenue from its cloud division will soar 77% this year to $18bn, with additional growth ahead. CEO Safra Catz said Oracle signed four multibillion-dollar contracts last quarter and expects more in the coming months.
Ellison’s Trump Ties and Media Push
Ellison, 81, co-founded Oracle in 1977 and built it into a global software giant. Once known for his flamboyant lifestyle, he now serves as chairman and chief technology officer after stepping down as CEO in 2014.
A key Trump ally, Ellison joined the president in January to unveil “Stargate,” a project with OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son aimed at expanding US AI infrastructure.
Oracle has also emerged as a contender to acquire TikTok, which faces a potential US ban unless it severs ties with Chinese parent company ByteDance. Asked in January whether he would back Musk buying TikTok, Trump said: “I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”
Ellison’s media ambitions stretch further. He funded most of an $8bn bid led by his son, David Ellison, to acquire Paramount, parent of CBS and MTV. That deal, through David’s Skydance Media, was finalised last month.
