Who is Larry Ellison? The Oracle Billionaire Closing in on Elon Musk With $364B Net Worth

Larry Ellison is edging closer to overtaking Elon Musk as the world’s richest person. The Oracle co-founder saw his fortune surge by $70 billion in a single day after Oracle share price jumped 28% in extended trading on Tuesday, according to Google Finance. That blockbuster earnings report pushed Ellison’s net worth to an estimated $364 billion.

This puts him within striking distance of Elon Musk, whose fortune stands at $384 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. If Oracle’s gains hold when markets open Wednesday, Ellison’s rise would mark the largest one-day increase in wealth ever recorded by the index.

It’s a staggering milestone. But who is Larry Ellison, the man behind Oracle’s stunning rally, and how did he build such a fortune? Let's explore in this blog.

Who is Larry Ellison? The Visionary Behind Oracle

Larry Ellison’s journey is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. Born in the Bronx in 1944, he was adopted by relatives and raised on Chicago’s South Side. He dropped out of college twice before moving to Berkeley in the late 1960s, where he stumbled into computer programming.

While working at electronics company Ampex, Ellison helped build a CIA database project called Oracle. Sensing its potential, he teamed up with Bob Miner and Ed Oates to launch Software Development Laboratories in 1977, the company that would soon become Oracle.

Oracle quickly became a pioneer in database software, powering everything from global banks to e-commerce platforms. The company went public on March 12, 1986, just one day before its future rival, Microsoft. Along the way, Ellison gained a reputation as a visionary risk-taker, a leader with both a fierce competitive streak and a flair for the extravagant.

Key Milestones in Ellison’s Journey

• 1977: Co-founds the company that would become Oracle.
• 1978: Builds the first commercial relational database — a foundation of modern computing.
• 1986: Oracle goes public.
• 2009: Buys the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
• 2010: Acquires Sun Microsystems for $7.4B, gaining control of Java.
• 2012: Purchases 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
• 2014: Steps down as Oracle CEO, becomes Chairman and CTO.
• 2016: Acquires NetSuite for $9B, strengthening Oracle’s cloud push.

Larry Ellison Net Worth: A Deep Dive into the Multi Billions

Larry Ellison now ranks above household names like Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, in terms of net worth. Ellison’s fortune is now estimated at $364 billion, driven mostly by his 40% stake in Oracle, where he remains the largest shareholder. Oracle’s stock performance is the single biggest driver of his wealth.

But Ellison is far from one-dimensional. His portfolio includes:

• A 1.4% stake in Tesla (he was an early investor).
• The Indian Wells tennis tournament and a global sailing league.
• A sprawling real estate empire — most famously, the Hawaiian island of Lanai.

Larry Ellison’s Net Worth Over Time

Source: Bloomberg

Oracle Earnings Report and ORCL Stock Surge: The AI Boom

Ellison’s most recent windfall comes from Oracle’s huge success in AI and cloud computing. The company’s latest earnings report shattered Wall Street expectations, sending its stock soaring 28% in after-hours trading.

Here’s what fueled the surge:

• Revenue Growth: Quarterly revenue beat analyst estimates, with cloud revenue up more than 40% YoY.
• OCI Momentum: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) revenue jumped 65% YoY, taking on AWS and Microsoft Azure.
• Future Bookings: Remaining Performance Obligations hit $85B, boosted by 30+ new AI contracts worth $12B.

On the earnings call, CEO Safra Catz said demand for AI model training is already “outstripping supply.” Ellison, as CTO, has been the architect of Oracle’s AI-first strategy.

Larry Ellison’s story is one of persistence, vision, and reinvention. From a college dropout on the South Side of Chicago to a billionaire controlling one of the world’s largest software firms, he has continually reshaped both Oracle and himself. With Oracle’s AI-driven momentum, Ellison now sits just steps away from becoming the richest man on Earth. The only question left is: will the Oracle of Silicon Valley overtake Musk?

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