Larry Ellison Surges Past Bezos and Zuckerberg as World’s Second-Richest

San Francisco, CA – Larry Ellison reclaimed his position among the world’s three richest people on Thursday as shares of his cloud computing company soared to an all-time high following positive earnings, reflecting the dynamic nature of Forbes’ billionaire rankings amid the artificial intelligence arms race.

Ellison’s net worth increased by $23 billion to reach $240 billion shortly after the market opened Thursday, marking the largest daily gain among billionaires, according to Forbes data. This significant bump allowed Ellison to surpass Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $227 billion, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth stands at $238 billion.

Ellison now trails only his friend Elon Musk, whose net worth is $411 billion. Following the earnings report, Oracle’s stock climbed to a record high of over $200 per share. The company had reported stronger-than-expected profits of $1.70 adjusted earnings per share and $15.9 billion in revenue for the financial quarter ending last month.

Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick referred to the earnings update as a “watershed” moment for Oracle. Zelnick advised clients, “When Larry Ellison speaks of entering a new era of cloud computing, all should pay careful attention,” linking to Oracle’s vital role in the growing field of generative AI.

Looking ahead, TD Cowen analyst Derrick Wood noted that Oracle’s 2026 fiscal year, which begins this month, is set to be a “major inflection point” for the company’s core cloud services, driven by an increase in demand for AI training workloads.

Oracle, an enterprise software giant, generates much of its revenue through cloud computing and data storage, including the hosting of data for the social media platform TikTok. Ellison, who co-founded Oracle in 1977, owns around 41% of the company.

The 80-year-old Ellison has remained a prominent figure in business and politics. He previously served on Tesla’s board of directors from 2018 to 2022 and played a role in supporting various GOP candidates during the 2022 midterm elections. He is also known for purchasing a Hawaiian island for $300 million and for a substantial contribution to the University of Michigan football team, which his wife, Kere Zhu, attended.

In January, Ellison appeared alongside former President Donald Trump to launch Stargate, a collaborative venture between Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI aimed at advancing U.S. AI initiatives.