Oracle Co-founder Larry Ellison becomes world’s second-richest, surpassing Bezos and Zuckerberg

Ellison’s wealth has soared as Oracle’s stock nearly tripled since November 2022, driven by surging global demand for AI infrastructure, with a remarkable 90% gain in just the past three months

Larry Ellison, the 80-year-old co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation, has become the world’s second-richest person, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth surged to $251.2 billion, placing him ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the first time on the prestigious list. Elon Musk continues to hold the top spot with an estimated fortune of $357.8 billion.

Ellison’s dramatic rise in wealth is closely tied to Oracle’s robust stock performance, which has seen significant growth amid the ongoing global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Since November 2022 — around the time ChatGPT accelerated global interest in generative AI — Oracle’s shares have nearly tripled in value. Over the past three months alone, the stock has jumped more than 90%.

Chip policy boosts Oracle shares

A key catalyst came earlier this week when U.S. authorities announced a relaxation of semiconductor export restrictions to China. The move sent shares of chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD soaring and had a positive knock-on effect across the tech sector. Oracle shares climbed 5.7% on Tuesday (July 15), helping Ellison edge past Zuckerberg in the rankings.

More than 80% of Ellison’s wealth is concentrated in Oracle stock and options, making him one of the most deeply invested founders in the tech space. The company has recently inked multi-billion-dollar cloud contracts and is expanding its infrastructure to support large-scale AI deployments, including its Stargate initiative with OpenAI and SoftBank.

Earlier this month, Oracle delivered strong quarterly results, prompting CEO Safra Catz to predict an even more promising fiscal year 2026.

In a separate development, Ellison announced via social media that he will revise his philanthropic focus. Rather than continuing with the Giving Pledge, he plans to concentrate his efforts on the Ellison Institute of Technology, launched in 2023 in partnership with the University of Oxford, to drive interdisciplinary research across healthcare, climate, and AI.