Elon Musk Briefly Lost the Title of World’s Richest Person to Larry Ellison

For a brief moment on Wednesday morning, Elon Musk was no longer the world’s richest person. That title shifted to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose fortune skyrocketed after a stunning surge in his company’s stock price.

Shares of Oracle jumped more than 36% when markets opened, adding around $100 billion (€85.53bn) to Ellison’s net worth in less than an hour. At his peak, Ellison’s fortune reached $383.2 billion (€327.71bn), just ahead of Musk’s $384.2 billion (€328.57bn).

But by the end of the trading day, Musk reclaimed the top spot as Oracle gave back some of its early gains, Bloomberg reported.

The two fortunes are so vast that analysts point out they could each cover the annual expenses of about five million U.S. families — roughly the population of Florida — or even finance an entire year of South Africa’s GDP.

Oracle’s AI Boom Fuels Ellison’s Wealth

The sudden spike in Ellison’s fortune followed Oracle’s blockbuster earnings report. The company revealed over $300 billion (€256.56bn) worth of new deals with tech giants including OpenAI, Meta, Nvidia, and Musk’s own xAI. Oracle now expects revenue from its cloud infrastructure business to soar 77% to $18 billion (€15.39bn) this year and reach $144 billion (€123.15bn) within four years.

Ellison, who owns about 40% of Oracle, told investors the company is poised to profit not only from building data centers for AI but also from powering the everyday applications of artificial intelligence. That includes robots in factories, drug development, financial trading, and automation in law and sales.

“AI Changes Everything,” the 81-year-old declared during the call.

Elon Musk Briefly Lost the Title of World’s Richest Person to Larry Ellison

Euronews

Tesla Struggles While Oracle Rises

Musk, who first became the world’s richest person four years ago, owes much of his fortune to Tesla. But the electric carmaker’s stock has fallen more than 8% this year, the opposite trajectory of Oracle. Despite Musk’s efforts to shift investor focus toward Tesla’s AI and robotics ambitions, sales have continued to slump.

For a brief moment on Wednesday morning, Elon Musk was no longer the world’s richest person. That title shifted to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose fortune skyrocketed after a stunning surge in his company’s stock price.

CNN

In Europe, Tesla sales plunged 40% earlier this summer, the seventh straight month of decline, while rival BYD tripled its sales. In the U.S., some buyers have turned away, frustrated by Musk’s outspoken political endorsements, particularly his support for Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Oracle’s momentum reflects just how strongly investors are betting on artificial intelligence to drive the next wave of growth in technology. The company’s stock closed Wednesday at $328.33, marking a dramatic 36% surge in a single day. In contrast, Tesla’s performance was far more subdued, ending at $347.79 with a gain of less than 1%.

The divergence captures a broader shift in market sentiment. While electric vehicles were once seen as the future of tech-driven growth, enthusiasm has cooled as sales slow and competition intensifies.

At the same time, AI is being viewed as the new frontier, capable of transforming industries from healthcare to finance, and Oracle is positioning itself as a central player in powering that transformation.

Though Musk quickly regained the top spot on the billionaire rankings, the brief shake-up underscored a larger point: the global race to harness AI is not only reshaping entire industries, but also determining who sits at the very top of the world’s wealth ladder.