New York: Oracle founder Larry Ellison is now the world's fourth-richest person edging past Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with a staggering $129.8 billion net worth, on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, according to Bloomberg, CNN reported.
The net worth of Bill Gates according to Bloomberg is currently $129.1 billion. It's the first time Ellison is richer than Gates and ranked above No. 5 on the list, the outlet reported.
Ellison announced he was stepping down as Oracle CEO in 2014, though he didn't leave the company. He then became the technology company's chairman and chief technology officer and accumulated most of his wealth from his stake in it.
Oracle's stock has risen more than 42 per cent year to date and is currently trading at $116.50 as of Monday's market close. Oracle earned a record $50 billion revenue in the 2023 fiscal year, according to company earnings released Tuesday.
The company's infrastructure business and cloud services led the growth, CEO Safra Catz said, CNN reported.
Oracle is cashing in on AI, investing in OpenAI competitor Cohere, which raised a total of $270 million in a funding round last week, according to reports.
Artificial intelligence is keeping investors optimistic. Bank of America economists said the S&P 500 move into the bull market was mostly because investors rallied around AI, CNN reported.
Ellison is the largest stockholder in Oracle and owns approximately 42.9 per cent of its shares, a 2022 SEC proxy statement said. The 78-year-old also owns a 1.5 per cent stake in Tesla, a 2022 SEC proxy statement shows.
The billionaire owns Hawaii’s sixth largest Island Lana’l, a massive collection of Japanese and samurai art, dozens of homes in California and expensive yachts.
Ellison sold Rising Sun, his mammoth 453-foot yacht, to Hollywood mogul David Geffen in 2010, which was the 10th largest in the world. The billionaire also owns the 288-foot megayacht Musashi, ranking at 50.
Oracle is one of the biggest providers of corporate software in the world. In 1977, Ellison and his partners began selling the first relational database, which they called the Oracle Database. Five years later, they renamed their company “Oracle” after their software.