Oracle co-founder, CTO and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison speaks during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The new world's richest man has been crowned, and it isn't Elon Musk.
According to Bloomberg, that title now goes to Oracle’s co-founder and largest individual shareholder, Larry Ellison, 81.
By the numbers:
According to the outlet, Ellison has become the world’s richest individual for the first time after his fortune surged by an unprecedented $101 billion on Tuesday morning.
The jump, recorded at 10:10 a.m. in New York, followed Oracle Corp.’s stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and upbeat growth outlook.
The rally lifted Ellison’s net worth to $393 billion, edging past Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who holds $385 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The $101 billion single-day gain marks the largest wealth increase ever tracked by the index.
Who is Larry Ellison?
Dig deeper:
Ellison started Oracle in 1977 and served as CEO until 2014. He lives in Hawaii and owns an entire island, according to Business Insider. Ellison heavily invested in Tesla and Salesforce, and reportedly served on Apple’s board of directors at one point.
He dropped out of college and moved to Berkeley, California, in 1966 at 22 years old, as the tech industry was taking off in nearby Silicon Valley. In 1977, Ellison and partners Bob Miner and Ed Oates founded Software Development Laboratories with $2,000 in funding. That company would become Oracle a few years later.
RELATED: Teacher quits profession after viral rant on how AI is 'ruining' education
The billionaire enjoys expensive hobbies, including yacht-racing and collecting watches. His son, David Ellison, is slated to become the CEO of Paramount after its merger with Skydance Media.
Ellison signed a giving pledge in 2010, promising to donate 95% of his fortune before he dies. In 2016, he donated $200 million to a cancer treatment center at the University of Southern California, according to Forbes.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Elon Musk on Tesla, future of AI & role in Trump admin.
Elon Musk spoke at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday. Musk vowed to come after people attempting to burn Tesla cars. Musk was also asked about his position in the White House.
How did Ellison surpass Elon Musk?
Big picture view:
According to FOX Business, Oracle's stock surge pushed Ellison's net worth higher by tens of billions of dollars the last two days, putting him ahead of Musk
The software giant's stock surged in after-hours trading following an earnings release that featured a significant uptick in sales and signaled a bullish outlook for Oracle's cloud business.
The positive news sent Oracle stock more than 32% higher in after-hours and pre-market trading – gains which continued after the market opened, with Oracle stock up over 39.6% as of Wednesday morning.
Ellison holds about 1.16 billion shares in the company, which amounts to roughly 41% of Oracle's total outstanding shares. Ellison's net worth jumped about $111 billion as of 11 a.m. ET.
Musk held a decisive lead before Oracle's stock jumped after hours on Tuesday, with a net worth of about $384 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Ellison began Tuesday at about $294 billion, while the stock's rise in after-hours trading pushed his wealth about $70 billion higher.
The Source: Heather Miller contributed to this report. The information in this story comes primarily from Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s richest individuals in real time, and FOX Business, which reported on Oracle’s stock surge following its quarterly earnings release. This story was reported from Los Angeles.