Oracle’s Larry Ellison Briefly Surpasses Elon Musk as World’s Richest Person
For a fleeting moment this week, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison reclaimed a title he once held-the world’s richest person-before Elon musk regained the lead. The shift, reported by Bloomberg, underscores the volatile nature of wealth at the apex of the technology industry and highlights Ellison’s continued financial power.
The change stemmed from fluctuations in stock prices, specifically a rise in Oracle’s shares coupled with a dip in Tesla’s valuation.While Musk quickly rebounded to a net worth of $384.2 billion as of recent calculations, Ellison’s peak valuation of $383.2 billion demonstrates the ongoing competition for the top spot among tech billionaires. This dynamic impacts investor confidence, market trends, and the broader economic landscape.
Ellison, 81, has long been a prominent figure in the tech world, co-founding Oracle in 1977 and remaining its main shareholder. His wealth extends beyond his business ventures, with critically important philanthropic and political contributions.
Raised in a reformed Jewish family by adoptive parents, Ellison is known for an early rejection of traditional religious observance, reportedly declining his bar mitzvah due to scheduling conflicts with baseball practice. Despite this, he has become a major donor to the Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces (FIDF).
In 2019, Ellison contributed financially to an archaeological excavation project in East Jerusalem, a move that drew criticism from both Palestinian representatives and Israeli peace activists. Reports also surfaced two years later suggesting ellison offered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a position on Oracle’s board of directors.
