A surprise shake-up at the top
For years, Elon Musk has been sitting comfortably at the top of the world’s richest list. But this week, his crown slipped—at least for a few hours. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison briefly overtook Musk after a historic surge in his company’s stock.
Ellison’s fortune jumped by a jaw-dropping $89 billion on Wednesday, pushing his net worth to $383.2 billion. Musk, meanwhile, closed the day at $384.2 billion, barely holding on to his spot.
What happened with Oracle?
The big shift came after Oracle reported blowout earnings on Tuesday evening. The company revealed that demand for its data centers—especially from artificial intelligence (AI) companies—was skyrocketing. That news sent Oracle’s stock soaring as much as 43% before it settled with a 36% gain by market close.
To put it simply, Oracle had its best day on Wall Street in over 30 years. The stock’s massive jump added about $244 billion to the company’s market value, pushing it into the top 10 of the S&P 500, right alongside giants like Microsoft and Nvidia.
Ellison’s incredible payday
Larry Ellison, who co-founded Oracle back in 1977 and is still its largest individual shareholder, reaped the benefits. His personal fortune climbed as much as $101 billion during the day before settling at an $89 billion gain. Bloomberg called it the single biggest one-day wealth increase ever recorded.
For a few hours, Ellison officially wore the crown of the world’s richest person. Though Musk’s wealth edged back up by the end of the day, Ellison’s short reign grabbed headlines worldwide.
The AI boom behind the surge
So why did Oracle stock jump so high? The answer lies in AI. Companies like OpenAI and others building advanced AI models need massive amounts of computing power. Oracle provides the cloud infrastructure that fuels this work.
In fact, Oracle recently announced a deal to provide 4.5 gigawatts of electricity to help power AI tools like ChatGPT. With a $455 billion backlog in AI service demand, Oracle’s future looks brighter than ever.
As one analyst put it, “Microsoft and Oracle aren’t just software companies anymore—they’re AI cloud infrastructure companies.” That shift is paying off big time.
Meanwhile, trouble for Musk
While Ellison’s wealth has been climbing, Musk’s fortune has taken a hit in 2024. Tesla shares are down about 14% this year, and that decline has weighed heavily on Musk’s net worth.
Musk, however, still has plenty of room to bounce back. His stake in Tesla, along with his investments in SpaceX and other ventures, keeps him at the top of the billionaire charts. He even has a massive new Tesla pay package that could one day be worth nearly $1 trillion if certain goals are met.
Ellison’s long road to riches
Ellison’s story is also worth noting. Now 81, he dropped out of college before co-founding Oracle in 1977. Over the decades, he built the company into one of the biggest tech firms in the world.
Beyond business, Ellison owns nearly the entire Hawaiian island of Lana’i and has poured millions into tennis, reviving the Indian Wells tournament in California. Here is one fact you should know: his wealth, influence, and ties to big names in politics and tech have kept him in the spotlight for years.
A rivalry to watch
This isn’t the first time Musk has lost the “world’s richest” title. Over the past few years, he has briefly been overtaken by Bernard Arnault of LVMH and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Now, Larry Ellison has joined that small club.
Whether Musk can maintain his spot—or whether Ellison or another billionaire takes over—will depend on the stock markets, AI demand, and Tesla’s performance. For now, Musk remains on top, but the gap is razor-thin.
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