Larry Ellison overtakes Zuckerberg: He is now the second richest in the world!

Larry Ellison overtakes Zuckerberg: He is now the second richest in the world!

In a remarkable rise, Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, has overtaken Mark Zuckerberg to become the second richest person in the world. His current fortune stands at an impressive $251 billion, which represents a gain of almost $60 billion in 2025. This increase is due in large part to the soaring value of Oracle, whose shares have risen 41 percent. Ellison, who is 80, has a 40 percent stake in the company, which he founded in 1977 and which now benefits heavily from investments in artificial intelligence. This reports Focus.

Oracle is planning a significant expansion in Europe, specifically in Germany and the Netherlands. Investments totaling three billion dollars were announced, particularly to strengthen cloud services and AI technologies. These measures are part of the White House's Stargate initiative, which aims to promote US competitiveness in AI. Together with renowned partners such as SoftBank, OpenAI and Microsoft, Oracle plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years Fortune reported.

The challenges for Oracle

Despite the encouraging growth, analysts at Goldman Sachs are skeptical about the sustainability of Oracle's successes. They have maintained a “neutral” rating due to potential risks that could arise from over-investment in low-margin and capital-intensive areas. Over the last year, Oracle generated revenue of $15.9 billion, up 11 percent, and remaining benefits rose 41 percent to $138 billion.

Ellison, who was Oracle's CEO until 2014 and now serves as executive chairman and CTO, took the company from a small database software provider to a leading enterprise solutions provider. He founded Oracle with just $2,000 in seed capital and has had a remarkable career since then. In his private life, Ellison has been married six times and owns one of the largest yachts in the world, the “Rising Sun”. He also acquired the island of Lānaʻi in Hawaii in 2012 and moved there in 2020.

Philanthropic endeavors

Ellison recently announced plans to modify his commitments to the Giving Pledge, which he joined in 2010. He originally committed to donating 95 percent of his wealth. In the future, he wants to focus more on his philanthropic activities, particularly through the newly founded Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) at the University of Oxford. This institute focuses on challenges in the areas of healthcare, global hunger and climate change.