Ellison set to Beat Elon Musk to be World’s Richest

Larry Ellison is edging closer to Elon Musk in the race for the title of the world’s richest man, after a dramatic surge in his fortune on Tuesday.

The Oracle co-founder saw his wealth jump by an unprecedented $70 billion in just one day, thanks to a blowout earnings report from his company. 

Oracle’s quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations and painted a bullish picture for future growth, sending its shares soaring more than 26% in after-hours trading,  the company’s sharpest single-day rise since 1999.

That historic stock rally pushed Ellison’s net worth to around $364 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, placing him within touching distance of Musk’s $384 billion. 

If the gains hold when markets open on Wednesday, it will go down as the largest one-day wealth increase ever recorded by the index.

Ellison, 81, co-founded Oracle nearly five decades ago and now serves as chairman and chief technology officer. The bulk of his fortune remains tied to the company, which has been gaining ground in the highly competitive cloud infrastructure business. 

Oracle’s impressive bookings and growth outlook have positioned it as a stronger rival to industry leaders like Amazon and Microsoft.

While Ellison’s wealth skyrocketed, Musk’s Tesla has faced a rougher year. Shares of the electric carmaker are down about 14% in 2025, trimming the billionaire’s fortune even as he maintains his spot at the top of the global wealth ranking. 

Musk first claimed the crown in 2021, lost it briefly to Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault, and reclaimed it last year, holding on now for more than 300 days.

With Ellison’s stunning rally, the billionaire leaderboard is looking less settled. If Oracle’s momentum continues, the tech titan could soon unseat Musk, adding another twist to the ongoing battle among the world’s wealthiest.