Elon Musk at risk of losing title as World’s Wealthiest Person to Oracle’s Ellison

Elon Musk faces the possibility of being overtaken as the world’s richest individual by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, whose wealth is surging due to Oracle’s strong position in the booming Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector.

On Wednesday, Ellison, 81, saw his fortune increase by approximately $100 billion as Oracle’s stock soared following the company’s robust revenue growth forecast, driven by the AI investment wave.

Forbes’ real-time billionaires index estimates Ellison’s wealth at around $395 billion, trailing Musk’s roughly $440 billion.

However, Bloomberg’s wealth index places Ellison slightly ahead, naming him the current wealthiest person, with the discrepancy arising from differing valuations of their extensive assets.

Despite their rivalry for the top spot, Musk and Ellison share a longstanding friendship.

Ellison has supported Musk through turbulent times, including a $1 billion investment in Musk’s Twitter acquisition and serving on Tesla’s board for several years.

“Ellison has been a key ally for Musk, both financially and strategically,” noted a source familiar with their relationship.

Musk’s wealth, primarily tied to Tesla, has faced challenges in 2025 due to declining sales, partly linked to his controversial political affiliations.

Tesla recently proposed a compensation package for Musk that could exceed $1 trillion by 2035 if the company achieves aggressive targets, with a shareholder vote scheduled for November.

Ellison, a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, owns over 1.1 billion Oracle shares, representing more than 40% of the company’s equity, per S&P Capital IQ.

Oracle CEO Safra Catz described the recent quarter as “astonishing,” highlighting “four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers.”

The company anticipates its cloud business revenue to surge by 77% this fiscal year to $18 billion, with projections reaching $144 billion in the coming years.