Not Sam Altman or Elon Musk: Oracle’s Larry Ellison emerges richest AI beneficiary
Oracle co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison has emerged as the biggest beneficiary.
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AI infrastructure deals have dominated headlines in 2025, with major companies such as OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, and AMD announcing multi-billion-dollar agreements in recent weeks. These deals have driven valuations higher for firms involved in AI data centre expansion, rewarding founders, executives, and investors tied to the sector.
According to a Forbes report, Oracle co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison has emerged as the biggest beneficiary. The 79-year-old has seen his net worth surge by $140 billion over the past year, propelled by a 73 per cent jump in Oracle shares.
Oracle’s stock soared on forecasts that the company’s cloud infrastructure revenue, which underpins AI, could jump from $18 billion this year to $144 billion over the next four years. Last month, Ellison briefly overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in the world.
In a remarkable market moment, Oracle shares shot up by more than a third in the first half-hour of trading, adding around $100 billion to Ellison’s fortune and temporarily granting him the top spot in global wealth rankings.
Ellison, who owns roughly 40 per cent of Oracle, has clearly positioned himself as the preeminent financial winner of the 2025 AI boom, outpacing other tech figures such as Sam Altman or Musk in terms of immediate gains from AI-related deals.
This dramatic leap underscores the growing influence of AI infrastructure on corporate valuations and the fortunes of tech billionaires at the forefront of the industry.
