Oracle founder Larry Ellison scored a $15 billion gain on Tuesday after shares of his software company had their best day in over two years and closed at a record. According to data compiled by Forbes on wealth accumulation, Ellison’s valuation reached $157.7 billion as of the time of this report.
Oracle’s Larry Ellison, started the company in 1977, and remains the company’s biggest shareholder with a stake valued at roughly $146 billion after the latest pop. He’s the fifth-wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, just behind Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and ahead of Warren Buffett.
Oracle shares
Oracle shares gain was about 12% to close at $127.54, after the software vendor reported fiscal Q3 earnings that beat analysts’ expectations. Oracle’s revenue in the cloud services and licenses support segment climbed 12%, topping estimates.
Over the past year, Oracle shares have now spiked 52%, lifting Ellison’s worth by about $50 billion. The stock has outperformed the S&P 500, which has gained 34% in the past 12 months.
Oracle Q3 earnings
During Oracle’s quarterly earnings call on the same day, conducted from the company’s base in Austin, Texas, Ellison informed listeners about the widespread application of GenAI across various industries.
He specifically highlighted the implementation of a digital assistant for ambulatory clinic systems and detailed how the technology is aiding in aligning Albania’s laws with those of the European Union, expediting the country’s EU entrance.
The surge in net worth valuation can be attributed to a substantial 10% increase in Oracle’s shares, rising from $114.15 to $126.20.
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
In addition to the remarkable boost in Ellison’s personal wealth, Oracle Corporation reported third-quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings that not only met revenue expectations but also surpassed earnings per share (EPS) projections by $0.02.
The standout performance was largely credited to the success of Oracle’s infrastructure cloud business, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which is outpacing competitors in terms of growth.
Oracle venturing into artificial intelligence
While Oracle was late to cloud infrastructure and has been on the fringes of the latest artificial intelligence boom, increased demand for the company’s AI technology is allowing Ellison to tout his company’s expansion in the hottest market in the industry.
“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,” Ellison, who still operates as Oracle’s chief technology officer, said on the earnings call. “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.”
Larry Ellison success with stock gain
Unlike Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison has been hanging onto all his stock rather than selling off chunks. According to FactSet, Ellison’s last transaction in Oracle stock was a purchase of 7,000 shares in 2022, and he hasn’t sold any since 2016.
Bezos has sold over 50,000 Amazon shares this year. Most recently, in mid-February he unloaded more than 14 million shares of his company valued at roughly $2.4 billion.
