Oracle's Larry Ellison Surpasses Mark Zuckerberg as World's Second Richest Person

By Madelaine Panganiban

Published: Jul 17 2025, 04:25 AM EDT

Oracle’s Larry Ellison Surpasses Mark Zuckerberg as World’s Second Richest — Oracle co-founder, CTO and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on February 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Getty Images

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has climbed to the No. 2 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, passing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The 80-year-old tech titan is now worth $251 billion, thanks to a massive $59 billion gain in 2025 alone.

Ellison's rise is tied closely to Oracle's recent success in the stock market. Shares of Oracle surged after news broke that the US government would allow tech firms like Nvidia and AMD to export advanced chips to China.

Just last month, Ellison added $26 billion to his net worth after Oracle reported strong quarterly results and announced further AI investments, FoxBusiness said.

Oracle's Q4 revenue hit $15.9 billion, up 11% from the previous year. The company also revealed a $3 billion investment in Europe to expand its AI cloud services, boosting investor confidence even more.

Most of Ellison's wealth—about 80%—comes from his Oracle shares and options. He holds about 40% of the company he co-founded in 1977.

Oracle founder and Michigan super-booster Larry Ellison is now the second-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.

Ellison has a current net worth of $251 billion. He played a key role in Michigan’s pursuit of Bryce Underwood. https://t.co/4IBtDSH6v9 pic.twitter.com/sdU8w1pnkM
— On3 NIL (@On3NIL) July 17, 2025

Ellison Joins Top AI Backers with $500B Stargate Project

Ellison's rise in wealth places him just behind Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who remains the world's richest person.

Rounding out the top five on the Bloomberg list are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ellison's gain is part of a broader trend. AI-related companies have been performing strongly in 2025, and Ellison's Oracle is a major player.

The company is one of the founding partners of Stargate, a $500 billion US initiative to lead in global AI development, Fortune said. Oracle has joined forces with SoftBank, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Nvidia to back the project.

While Oracle is gaining favor on Wall Street, not all analysts are convinced. Goldman Sachs recently kept a "neutral" rating on Oracle's stock, warning that high spending on AI infrastructure could impact profits in the short term.

Ellison also made headlines this week by updating his commitment to the Giving Pledge, a promise by billionaires to donate most of their wealth to good causes. He plans to focus much of his giving on the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) at Oxford University.

In a post, Ellison wrote, "I believe this will improve our chances of delivering practical solutions to the problems of hunger, healthcare and climate change."