In a spectacular twist on June 12, 2025, Oracle’s co‑founder Larry Ellison has raced up the wealth ladder and seized the title of the second‑richest person on the planet, all thanks to a one‑day $26 billion spike in Oracle. This feat occurred mostly due to strong earnings and favourable demand for enterprise AI solutions and cloud infrastructure, propelling the 80-year old billionaire to second place on the Forbes list of world billionaires and surpassing both Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg in one swoop.
Oracle’s fourth-quarter earnings, released earlier this month, acted as the fuel that launched Ellison past Bezos. The company posted revenue of $15.9 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.70, both of which exceeded Wall Street expectations. This strong performance was largely attributed to Oracle’s aggressive push into cloud computing and its growing footprint in artificial intelligence infrastructure, a space traditionally dominated by AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. The jump in Ellison’s wealth followed Oracle’s after-earnings rally that pushed its stock to an all-time closing price of $200.
Mark Zuckerberg, at net worth of $235 billion and Jeff Bezos, at a net worth of $228 billion, follow closely, now battling for the third and fourth spots, with Bezos temporarily dropping below both Ellison and Zuckerberg after Oracle’s rally.
This isn’t just about net worth tallies. Ellison surpassing Bezos speaks to a shift in tech market dynamics. Oracle has made major strides in partnering with companies in need of robust AI workloads, building sovereign cloud offerings for governments, expanding its footprint in emerging markets and many more strategic moves. These moves have translated into shareholder confidence and renewed growth.
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For years, the “Big Three” in cloud computing were considered Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Oracle was often treated as a legacy player. But that perception has quietly, and now clearly, changed.And it’s all because of its co-founder who is all about opening up new horizons in the tech world. At age 80, this resilient man still serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and chairman of the board. His influence remains deep, particularly in Oracle’s ambitious transition into the AI cloud space.
Known for his flamboyant past, Ellison, ironically, became an icon of quiet consistency. Unlike Musk or Bezos, Ellison doesn’t dominate headlines or make waves with flashy product launches. Instead, he has let Oracle’s numbers and his immense equity stake do the talking. The tech world often rewards the loudest, the boldest, the most disruptive. Yet, Ellison’s story proves that there is still space for those who play the long game.
As the Oracle stock continues to rise and Ellison’s bet on the future of enterprise AI begins to pay off, it seems the database king has rewritten not just the cloud narrative, but the global wealth rankings as well. And Jeff Bezos, once the undisputed runner-up to Elon Musk, may have to settle, at least for now, without his silver position.
Written by Teertha Ravi
