Another rally from software giant Oracle propelled its chairman Larry Ellison to the second spot on Forbes’ rankings of the wealthiest people on the planet briefly on Friday, joining his self-described “very close friend” Elon Musk at the top of the list.
Larry Ellison smiles as he chats to Elon Musk last year.
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Key Takeaways
- Ellison’s net worth rose by $11 billion shortly after market open, jumping from $197 billion to as high as $208.4 billion amidst by far the largest daily jump in net worth for any billionaire Friday.
- That hurdled Ellison past Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos (worth $206 billion) to become the second-richest person in the world, with Ellison’s fortune now only trailing that of Tesla CEO Musk ($253 billion).
- The rise in the fortune of Oracle cofounder and chairman Ellison came as shares in the cloud computing titan climbed by as much as 7.8% Friday to a new all-time high.
- Bezos overtook Ellison as Friday trading progressed and Oracle stock’s gains pared to about 2%, with Ellison’s net worth down to about $202 billion by time of publication.
Big Number
$36 billion. That’s about how much richer Ellison was at his Friday peak than he was at the end of last week, when he was worth $172.7 billion and occupied the fifth spot on Forbes’ billionaire list, also trailing Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and European luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. For reference, Nike cofounder Phil Knight is the world’s 47th-richest person with a $35.4 billion net worth.
Why Is Oracle Stock Up Friday?
A continuation of the good vibes from a Monday afternoon earnings report that sent shares up 15% over the prior three trading sessions, the latest gains followed optimistic financial guidance shared with financial analysts late Thursday.
The company set a sales target of $66 billion in its fiscal year ending May 2026 and a target of $104 billion for its 2029 fiscal year, both well above prior analyst targets and the record $53 billion of revenue it booked in its latest fiscal year.
Crucial Quote
“Oracle is on a tear this week,” remarked Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler in a Friday note to clients.
Key Background
Other than its strong earning report Monday and its rosy guidance Thursday, Oracle shares also benefited from the company’s Monday announcement of a partnership with Amazon Web Services, completing its “triple crown” of deals following prior team ups with Google and Microsoft.
The 80-year-old Ellison owns about 40% of Oracle, accounting for most of his net worth. Oracle, which sells a variety of software and cloud solutions to businesses, is the 16th most valuable public company in the U.S., surpassing the likes of Costco and MasterCard in valuation this week.
Ellison, who previously served on Tesla’s board of directors, is Hawaii’s biggest billionaire landowner, buying up most of the island of Lanai in 2020 and taking permanent residence there. He is also one of the most prolific donors to the Republican party and is set to become the controlling shareholder of CBS parent Paramount after his son’s Skydance Media’s takeover of the company finalises.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
