Larry Ellison Surges to Second Richest in the World After $40 Billion Oracle Windfall—Now Chasing Elon Musk

In a striking twist to the global billionaire rankings, Larry Ellison, the cofounder, chairman, and CTO of Oracle Corporation, has vaulted into the #2 spot on the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. With a staggering $40+ billion surge in net worth, Ellison now sits on a fortune valued at $250.9 billion, overtaking Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.

But he still has one giant left to surpass—his longtime friend and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, who reigns supreme at a colossal $405.8 billion.

Oracle Earnings Skyrocket — And So Does Ellison’s Wealth

Last week’s jump came on the heels of Oracle’s impressive 2025 fiscal earnings report, which proved to be a game-changer for the cloud tech behemoth.

Key Highlights from Oracle’s 2025 Fiscal Report:

Source: Oracle Investor Relations

This earnings momentum translated into an astronomical two-day gain of $41 billion for Ellison alone, given that he still owns roughly 41% of Oracle’s shares. Forbes data confirms his net worth soared $25 billion on Thursday and another $16 billion on Friday—among the largest daily personal wealth increases ever recorded.

Billionaire Rankings Shake-Up: June 2025 Edition

With Ellison’s meteoric rise, the current standings among tech titans now look like this:

Top 5 Richest People (As of June 2025):

See Real-Time Rankings: Forbes Billionaires List

The reshuffle comes just months after LVMH’s Bernard Arnault kicked off 2024 as the world’s richest man. However, volatile luxury market performance has since caused Arnault’s net worth to drop by nearly $90 billion.

AI Boom May Fuel Ellison’s Next Surge

Looking ahead, analysts see Oracle’s aggressive cloud strategy, especially in artificial intelligence infrastructure, as the next major tailwind for Ellison’s fortune. TD Cowen analyst Derrick Wood described Oracle’s 2025 fiscal year (which began this month) as a “major inflection point”, largely due to surging demand for AI training and cloud compute workloads.

“Oracle’s future is bright in this new era of cloud computing,” Ellison declared during the latest earnings call.
“We are already prospering in the cloud and AI space—and this is only the beginning.”

Ellison has been vocal about Oracle’s ambition to become the world’s leading cloud database provider, positioning itself directly against Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Musk and Ellison: Billionaire Besties with Business Ties

Despite now being competitors on the billionaire leaderboard, Ellison and Musk share more than just outrageous wealth—they share a longstanding friendship and business alliance.

• In 2018, Ellison joined Tesla’s Board of Directors, an appointment that stirred concerns about governance due to their personal connection.

• Ellison is also a significant Tesla shareholder, revealing during a past conference call, “I’m very close friends with Elon, and I’m a big investor in Tesla.”

• He has often publicly defended Musk, even during controversies, and once quipped he “loved” the headlines about Elon “smoking dope.”

Their bond is a unique fixture in Silicon Valley’s elite circles—two men with radically different public personas but shared ambitions in tech transformation.

But Can Ellison Catch Musk?

Although Ellison is riding high, the gulf between him and Elon Musk remains vast—over $150 billion wide, to be exact.

To overtake Musk, Oracle’s stock would have to continue surging significantly, or Musk would need to face a sharp decline in Tesla’s valuation. That said, in a world driven by AI, data, and cloud infrastructure, the race for the top may not be over just yet.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Billionaire Wealth

The rise of Larry Ellison is a case study in how tech innovation—especially in cloud computing and AI—can trigger dramatic shifts in personal fortunes. As we’ve seen with Bernard Arnault, fortunes at the top are highly volatile. One earnings report, one major stock movement, or one geopolitical shift can change the pecking order overnight.

For investors and analysts alike, Oracle’s trajectory will be one to watch in 2025 and beyond, especially as the company doubles down on AI-powered cloud services. Whether Ellison can dethrone Musk or not, one thing is certain—he’s reshaping the billionaire narrative in real-time.

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