Ellison Temporarily Surpasses Bezos: Oracle on Successful Path Thanks to AI Boom

The co-founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison, temporarily surpassed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the list of the world's richest people after Oracle's stock reached new record highs. Ellison's fortune was just slightly behind that of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. But how did this remarkable rise come about? The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a key driver for Oracle's growth in 2024. Oracle positioned itself as a significant player in the AI sector and collaborated with companies like Nvidia to provide the necessary infrastructure for AI development. This strategic alignment significantly boosted Oracle's stock, which rose by an impressive 64% in 2024. At the time of publication, the stock price was $170.33, up from $104.06 at the beginning of the year. Interestingly, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are betting on a city that could replace New York as the new financial center of the United States. Investments in this booming real estate market have never been more accessible. Ellison, who owns around 40% of Oracle, directly benefited from this stock surge. His fortune temporarily rose to over $208 billion, briefly surpassing Jeff Bezos's net worth of $204 billion. For the first time, Ellison was listed as the second richest person in the world, marking a significant milestone. However, Ellison's fortune later fell back to $181 billion, while Bezos climbed to $208 billion. Currently, Elon Musk remains the wealthiest person with a net worth of $248 billion. Ironically, part of Oracle's success stemmed from a new partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Earlier in the year, it was announced that Oracle's database software would now be available for AWS customers. Ellison's confidence in Oracle's future is apparent. At a recent event, he predicted that Oracle's cloud databases would continue to grow as more companies choose Oracle for their cloud services. These optimistic revenue forecasts through 2029 have further fueled investor enthusiasm. At a recent meeting with financial analysts, Ellison expressed his belief that AI would usher in a new era of comprehensive surveillance. Oracle is ready to act as the backbone of this transformation. "Citizens will behave their best because we are constantly recording and reporting," Ellison remarked, sparking some discussions. With Oracle's strong positioning in AI and cloud computing, along with partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, and Google, Ellison's fortune is likely to continue growing. However, as seen with Bezos and Musk, fortunes can quickly change depending on market movements.