In a remarkable turn of events, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has overtaken Elon Musk to become the world’s richest individual. As of September 2025, Ellison’s net worth has soared to approximately $388 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This surge in wealth is primarily attributed to a significant increase in Oracle’s stock price, which has nearly doubled this year, fueled by the company’s expanding role in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
A Surge in Oracle’s Stock Value
Ellison’s fortune is closely tied to Oracle, where he owns about 41% of the company’s shares. The stock has experienced a 97% increase in 2025 alone, driven by investor optimism surrounding Oracle’s AI initiatives and its growing cloud infrastructure contract backlog, which has surged over 350% year-over-year, reaching $455 billion. Major deals with AI leaders like OpenAI have further bolstered Oracle’s position in the tech industry.
Ellison’s Brief Reign as the World’s Richest Person
For a brief period in September 2025, Ellison surpassed Musk to become the wealthiest person globally. However, Musk’s resurgence in Tesla’s stock value has allowed him to reclaim the top spot, with his net worth estimated at $476 billion as of mid-September. Despite this, Ellison remains a formidable presence in the upper echelons of global wealth rankings.
A Look at the Top 10 Richest People in the World
As of September 2025, the top 10 richest individuals globally are:
- Elon Musk – $476 billion
- Larry Ellison – $388 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg – $259 billion
- Jeff Bezos – $240 billion
- Larry Page – $200 billion
- Sergey Brin – $186 billion
- Bernard Arnault – $155 billion
- Jensen Huang – $155 billion
- Steve Ballmer – $154 billion
- Warren Buffett – $147 billion
