Oracle Surges 43%, Ellison Dethrones Musk as World's Richest

On September 11, 2025, Oracle, the software giant, experienced a remarkable surge in its stock price, gaining the most since 1992. This surge was driven by the company's aggressive outlook for its cloud business, cementing its position in the race to support the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computing.

Oracle's stock skyrocketed as much as 43% on Wednesday, bringing its market valuation to $969 billion and making co-founder Larry Ellison the world's richest person, surpassing Elon Musk. Ellison, 81, amassed more than $100 billion in additional wealth as Oracle shares soared, with his overall wealth now standing at around $406 billion, slightly ahead of Musk's $440 billion.

The surge in Oracle's stock price was fueled by several key developments. The company signed a contract with OpenAI to purchase $300 billion in computing power over five years, one of the biggest deals of its kind. This deal, along with other major cloud contracts, helped boost Oracle's remaining performance obligations to $455 billion, more than four times higher than the same period a year earlier. This suggests that Oracle's cloud-growth rate is poised to surpass that of Google.

Oracle's CEO, Safra Catz, described the quarter as "astonishing" and stated that the demand for Oracle's cloud infrastructure continues to build. The company expects to sign up several additional customers, pushing its remaining performance obligations above $500 billion. This rapid expansion in Oracle's cloud infrastructure business is expected to continue, with the unit projected to grow 77% to $18 billion this fiscal year and reach $144 billion in annual revenue by the fiscal year ending in May 2030.