Larry Ellison’s $283 Billion Net Worth Threatened as Oracle Stock Collapses

Larry Ellison, executive chair and chief technology officer, founded Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) in 1977. Recently, it has become a tech behemoth, largely because of its key position in the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) business. His net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire list, is $283 billion, which makes him the second-richest person in the world. That net worth has risen by $91 billion since the start of the year, largely because of Oracle’s success.

A portion of his net worth is at risk and is likely gone for the time being. Poor earnings pushed Oracle’s stock down as much as 12%. As recently as late October, it was up 80% year to date.

The decline in Oracle’s stock could shave billions of dollars off Ellison’s net worth in less than a day. He owns 41% of Oracle, and before the stock drop, its market cap was $635 billion. That made it the 16th most valuable company in the world.

Granted, Ellison owns other assets, including the island of Lanai. His significant investment in tech and media includes Paramount/Skydance, which is currently bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Oracle’s stock collapsed because investors believe its investment in AI is so large that it will not bring a return for years, if at all. In the most recent quarter, revenue was $16.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14%. Earnings were up 91% to $2.10 per share. On the surface, these figures are impressive.

However, according to Bloomberg:

Oracle Corp. shares fell 11% in early trading after the company reported a jump in spending on AI data centers and other equipment, rising outlays that are taking longer to translate into cloud revenue than investors want.

Fiscal second-quarter cloud sales increased 34% to $7.98 billion, while revenue in the company’s closely watched infrastructure business gained 68% to $4.08 billion. Both numbers fell just short of analysts’ estimates.

Ellison’s net worth has become like Elon Musk’s, the world’s richest person with a net worth of $465 billion. It cycles up and down quickly, based largely on the value of the public companies they founded.

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