Elon Musk may soon lose his position as the world’s wealthiest individual to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose fortune is rapidly rising on the back of Oracle’s dominance in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector.
On Wednesday, Ellison, 81, saw his net worth climb by nearly $100 billion as Oracle’s stock surged following a strong revenue growth forecast fueled by massive AI-driven demand.
According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires index, Ellison’s wealth now stands at approximately $395 billion, compared to Musk’s estimated $440 billion. However, Bloomberg’s wealth index places Ellison slightly ahead of Musk, reflecting differences in how each outlet values their extensive assets.
Despite the competition for the top spot, Musk and Ellison share a long-standing friendship. Ellison has been one of Musk’s staunchest allies, investing $1 billion in Musk’s Twitter (now X) acquisition and serving on Tesla’s board for several years.
“Ellison has been a key ally for Musk, both financially and strategically,” a source close to the two billionaires revealed.
Musk’s fortune, primarily tied to Tesla, has come under pressure in 2025 due to declining vehicle sales, with analysts partly attributing the slump to his controversial political stances.
Meanwhile, Tesla recently announced a proposed compensation package for Musk that could potentially exceed $1 trillion by 2035, provided the company hits ambitious growth targets. A shareholder vote on the package is scheduled for November.
Ellison, a vocal supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, remains Oracle’s largest shareholder, holding more than 1.1 billion shares — over 40% of the company’s equity, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz praised the company’s performance, describing the latest quarter as “astonishing,” citing four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three separate clients. She added that Oracle’s cloud revenue is projected to grow by 77% this fiscal year to $18 billion, with longer-term forecasts estimating revenues could hit $144 billion in the coming years.
With Musk’s Tesla facing headwinds and Oracle riding the AI boom, the battle for the title of the world’s richest person is closer than ever.
