Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison witnessed a staggering $15 billion surge in his wealth on Tuesday as shares of his software behemoth experienced their most remarkable performance in over two years, culminating in a record-breaking closure.
Remaining the principal shareholder of Oracle since its inception in 1977, Ellison’s ownership stakes are now valued at approximately $146 billion following this recent surge. According to Forbes, he stands as the world’s fifth-wealthiest individual, trailing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and leading the iconic Warren Buffett.
The ascent of Oracle’s shares by a remarkable 12% to conclude at $127.54 was fueled by the software giant’s fiscal third-quarter earnings, which surpassed analysts’ projections.
Particularly noteworthy was the 12% surge in revenue within the company’s cloud services and license support segment, exceeding market estimates.
Despite Oracle’s relatively delayed foray into cloud infrastructure and its somewhat peripheral involvement in the latest artificial intelligence surge, escalating demand for the company’s AI technology has enabled Ellison to extol Oracle’s expansion within the industry’s most fervent market.
During the earnings call, Ellison, who continues to serve as Oracle’s chief technology officer, proudly announced, “We’re building an AI data center in the United States where you can park eight Boeing 747s nose-to-tail in that one data center.
We are building large numbers of data centers and some of those data centers are smallish, but some of those data centers are the largest AI data centers in the world.”
In the past year alone, Oracle’s shares have skyrocketed by 52%, propelling Ellison’s net worth by approximately $50 billion. Notably, the company’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 34% increase over the same period.
In contrast to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Ellison has refrained from divesting significant portions of his stock. FactSet data reveals that Ellison’s most recent transaction involving Oracle stock occurred in 2022 when he purchased 7,000 shares, and he hasn’t sold any since 2016.
In stark contrast, Bezos has offloaded over 50,000 Amazon shares this year alone. His most recent divestment, in mid-February, involved shedding more than 14 million shares of his company, valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
