Larry Ellison becomes world's richest man as Oracle shares surge 40%
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More news: Shares in Oracle soared 41% on Wednesday, after the company forecast that booked revenue from its core cloud business would exceed USD500 billion ($753.8 billion) in the coming months.
The surge meant that co-founder and CTO of Oracle, Larry Ellison, saw his fortune rise USD101 billion as of 10:10am in New York, lifting his total fortune to USD393 billion. The increase puts him ahead of Elon Musk’s USD385 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The move marked the biggest one-day increase ever recorded by the index.
The enterprise software firm is on pace for its best day since 1992, and is approaching the USD1 trillion market cap benchmark, currently sitting at USD950 billion.
Oracle signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers during the quarter, CEO Safra Catz told investors when it released quarterly results on Tuesday.
Shares jumped more than 30% in after-hours trading on Tuesday and continued to rise on Wednesday morning. Through Tuesday’s close, the stock had gained 45% so far this year.
Oracle shares surge 30% on cloud growth forecasts
The news: Shares in tech giant Oracle jumped in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company forecast that booked revenue from its core cloud business would exceed USD500 billion ($753.8 billion) in the coming months.
The numbers: By 6:30am ET on Wednesday morning, shares in the enterprise software company popped 30% after the company reported strong earnings on Tuesday.
Oracle’s Q1 FY26 results saw revenue increase 12% from USD13.3 billion from the year prior (ending 31 August). Net income held steady at USD2.93 billion, or USD1.01 per share, compared to USD2.93 billion, or USD1.03 per share, in the same quarter last year.
Oracle said that contracted revenue that has not yet been recognised, rose to USD455 billion, up 359% from the year prior.
During the quarter, OpenAI signed an agreement with Oracle to develop 4.5 gigawatts of U.S. data center capacity. Oracle agreed to partner with OpenAI and SoftBank on the USD500bn Stargate project earlier this year.
The context: If Oracle’s 30% premarket gain holds through Wednesday’s trading the company could add about USD200 billion to its market value, pushing the company’s market cap over USD800 billion. The move could also see founder and CTO Larry Ellison’s fortune lift by roughly USD70 billion.
Shares in Oracle have climbed 45% so far this year, with investors betting big on AI-driven cloud firms.
