This week, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, temporarily ceded his status as the world’s richest individual to Larry Ellison, co-founder and CTO of Oracle, before regaining the title by the conclusion of the trading day.
On September 10, Ellison’s wealth increased to $393 billion, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, following a more than 40 percent surge in Oracle shares.
The increase indicated investor trust in the company’s cloud infrastructure, as well as a series of multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) agreements. By the end of trading, part of those gains had diminished, positioning Musk at $385 billion once again.
As of September 11, 2025, Elon Musk is the world’s wealthiest individual, with a net worth of $384 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is closely behind him, with a net worth of $383 billion.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg occupies the third position with $264 billion, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in the fourth spot with $252 billion. Google co-founder Larry Page ranks fifth with a net worth of $210 billion.
Warren Buffett, chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway, is ranked eleventh on the list with a net worth of $148 billion. According to Bloomberg’s ranking, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates presently ranks fifteenth with a net worth of $120 billion.
Elon Musk, who has maintained the leading position for almost a year, has observed a decline in Tesla shares due to investor apprehension regarding the Trump administration’s reversal of electric vehicle (EV) plans and consumer discontent associated with his political remarks. His long-term financial trajectory may be enhanced by a potential compensation package from Tesla exceeding $1 trillion, contingent upon the achievement of many ambitious objectives.
Larry Ellison, aged 81, co-founded Oracle in 1977 and has remained a prominent presence in the technology industry. Currently serving as chairman and chief technology officer, he has aligned himself with President Donald Trump, having appeared earlier this year with OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son to announce a significant US-based AI infrastructure initiative named Stargate.
This week’s earnings report from Oracle forecasts a 77 percent increase in income from its cloud operations this year, reaching $18 billion, reflecting the rising demand for data centers from AI enterprises.
