On Wednesday Eastern Time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk briefly lost his title as the world’s richest person to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, before reclaiming the spot after market close. Musk’s net worth reached $384.2 billion, exceeding Ellison’s by just $1 billion, marking the third time since 2021 that Musk has temporarily surrendered the top position.
The shift was triggered by a rare surge in Oracle’s stock price. Following an exceptionally strong earnings report released Tuesday after market close, which revealed surging demand for its AI data center capacity, Oracle’s shares soared 36% on Wednesday—the largest single-day gain since 1992. As Oracle’s largest individual shareholder, Ellison saw his wealth increase by $89 billion in a single day, briefly reaching $383.2 billion and overtaking Musk.
The earnings report showed that Oracle signed four multi-billion-dollar cloud infrastructure contracts this quarter. CEO Safra Catz announced that several more agreements are expected in the coming months. The company has emerged as a key beneficiary of the soaring computational demands of AI, having already committed in July to supply OpenAI with 4.5 gigawatts of electricity to power its AI software.
Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Melius Research, described the earnings as “historic” and noted that Oracle’s backlog for AI services reached a “staggering” $455 billion. Following the report, Bank of America and Citigroup upgraded Oracle’s stock to “buy.”
Driven by this surge, Oracle’s market capitalization increased by approximately $244 billion in one day, reaching a record $922 billion. The company jumped from 13th to 10th place in the S&P 500 rankings, surpassing Eli Lilly, Walmart, and JPMorgan Chase. Bloomberg data indicated that Ellison’s single-day wealth increase set a record for the index.
Amid the AI boom, Oracle’s stock has risen 97% year-to-date, placing it among tech giants like NVIDIA and Microsoft that are leading the market. In contrast, Tesla’s shares have fallen about 14% this year. All top eight companies in the S&P 500 are now tech firms invested in AI infrastructure.
The 79-year-old Ellison, who dropped out of college and co-founded Oracle in 1977, now owns 98% of Hawaii’s Lanai Island and has maintained close ties with President Donald Trump, frequently participating in technology events at the White House. Market rumors also suggest he may be a potential suitor for TikTok, though no deal has materialized.
