According to Forbes, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison became the world’s third-richest person on Wednesday, surpassing rival computer magnate Jeff Bezos as shares of Ellison’s software company hit all-time highs.
Ellison’s net worth increased 4% to $152 billion on Wednesday, leaving Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ $149 billion wealth in the dust.
Except for a brief period on Tuesday, Ellison has never been the world’s third wealthiest person.
Ellison is nearly $45 billion richer than he was only two months ago, thanks to a 45% increase in Oracle shares on the back of the artificial intelligence mania; Ellison announced Oracle to be the “number one” provider of generative AI software on Monday.
Ellison now trails just Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($235 billion) and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault ($225 billion) in net worth.
Ellison was initially designated a billionaire by Forbes in 1993, with a net worth of $1.6 billion. Ellison cofounded Oracle 46 years ago and served as its CEO for 37 years until 2017, leading the company to become one of the world’s most valuable technology corporations. The billionaire is still Oracle’s largest shareholder and chairman of its board of directors. In addition to his Oracle share, Ellison has a real estate portfolio worth more than $1 billion, including a $300 million island in Hawaii purchased in 2012.
“He’s really one of the best engineers I’ve met,” Musk said about Ellison to Forbes in 2020 (Ellison served on Tesla’s board from 2018 to 2022). “When we engage on a technical subject, he understands it very quickly, even when it’s out of his normal arena, not software.”
Ellison contributed more than $20 million to Republican causes ahead of last year’s midterm elections, primarily to a super-PAC affiliated with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). Last month, Ellison attended Scott’s official presidential campaign kickoff, prompting Scott to name Ellison as one of his “mentors.”