Larry Ellison rides Oracle stock to become fourth richest man
Larry Ellison — Oracle co-founder, Hawaiian island owner and Republican megadonor — is now the fourth richest person in the world.
The tech executive and real estate hoarder is now worth about $130 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, buoyed up the rich list in large part due to a successful year for Oracle. Ellison, who helped found the tech stalwart in Santa Clara in 1977, has kept a tight grip on the cloud computing giant; he’s the chairman of Oracle’s board and still holds 42.9% of the company’s shares, according to a September filing.
On Monday he became richer than Bill Gates for the first time, Bloomberg reported, with his net worth only trailing Tesla’s Elon Musk, LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Ellison owns 1.5% of Tesla, according to a filing last June, a stake currently worth about $12 billion.
Wall Street excitement about artificial intelligence and cloud computing has lifted Oracle’s stock 83% over the past year, capped off by a positive earnings report on Monday for the Austin-based tech giant, which moved its headquarters from Redwood City in 2020. Though Oracle has long lagged behind cloud competitors Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in market share, recent partnerships with AI startups have investors feeling bullish.
Ellison, 78, has signed the billionaires’ “Giving Pledge” to donate 95% of his wealth to charity, but the tech exec is far better known for splashy real estate purchases and, lately, hefty political donations. “Philanthropy is the definition of not sustainable,” Ellison told Forbes in 2020. “Business is the definition of sustainable.”
He owns 98% of the Hawaiian island Lanai, which he purchased in 2012 and has transformed into a haven for the super-wealthy — though he recently got ticketed while driving by an island cop. Ellison’s real estate spending reached notoriety even before Oracle’s recent stock climb: A 2022 Forbes rundown of his collection included a 23-acre estate in Woodside, a mansion in Pacific Heights’ so-called “Billionaires’ Row,” a large Malibu compound and more.
Ellison is reportedly planning to spend tens of millions in support of South Carolina Republican Tim Scott’s presidential campaign in 2024.
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Source: SFGATE
