Larry Ellison over Elon Musk in 2025: Inside the AI boom, Oracle’s risky bets and the fortune that reshaped tech

At the start of 2025, a tech billionaire closely connected to the White House appeared set to dominate headlines. Twelve turbulent months later, that title belongs to Larry Ellison, not Elon Musk. The Oracle Corp. co-founder and chairman was involved in nearly every major business development of the year, placing him at the center of technology, artificial intelligence, and media dealmaking.

Now 81, Ellison’s influence stretched across sectors. From the AI infrastructure race to complex Hollywood acquisitions, his presence was constant. Even TikTok entered the picture, with Oracle planning to take a stake in the platform as part of a broader effort tied to Donald Trump’s attempt to keep the app operating in the United States. Throughout the year, Ellison’s wealth closely tracked Oracle’s share price, reflecting both opportunity and risk in a volatile market.

The year began with Stargate, one of the most ambitious data center projects announced to date. On January 21, one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Ellison appeared at the White House alongside OpenAI chief Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son. The group unveiled a $500 billion plan to build AI infrastructure across the US.

The announcement came with bold claims, including projections of 100,000 jobs. While some observers questioned whether the full amount would materialize, Oracle soon began a large-scale build-out of AI-optimized data centers. The pace surprised parts of the industry.

This expansion came at a cost. Oracle’s cash flow turned negative for the first time since the early 1990s. For Ellison, the move marked a notable shift. Fifteen years earlier, he had passed on the rise of cloud computing. In 2025, he repositioned Oracle as a major player in the AI infrastructure race.

During the summer, Oracle secured a deal that reshaped its future. OpenAI agreed to rent an enormous amount of computing power from Oracle in an agreement valued at roughly $300 billion. The deal positioned OpenAI as Oracle’s largest customer.

When Oracle disclosed the scale of this business in September, investors reacted sharply. Ellison’s net worth rose by $89 billion in a single day, reaching $388 billion. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it was the largest one-day wealth increase ever recorded. For a brief period, Ellison overtook Musk as the richest person in the world.

Ellison’s rising wealth also supported his son David Ellison’s ambitions in the media industry. In August, Skydance Media finalized its long-running effort to gain control of Paramount. The acquisition was largely financed by Larry Ellison.

Soon after the Paramount deal closed, David Ellison set his sights on Warner Bros. Discovery, home to franchises such as Batman, Harry Potter, and Bugs Bunny. Larry Ellison offered financial backing and personally pitched executives at Warner Bros.

The bid failed. Warner Bros. rejected the Skydance-Paramount offer and accepted a competing proposal from Netflix. Skydance responded with a hostile bid, echoing tactics Ellison himself used in the early 2000s during Oracle’s takeover of PeopleSoft. Warner Bros. rejected the second offer as well, citing concerns about Skydance’s ability to fund the equity portion. In response, Larry Ellison agreed to personally guarantee $40.4 billion in financing.

The guarantee highlighted the scale of Ellison’s financial exposure. In recent months, his net worth has declined alongside Oracle’s share price. Investor sentiment around AI spending has cooled, and Oracle faces scrutiny due to the debt accumulated to fund its data center expansion. The company’s reliance on OpenAI for a large share of future revenue has added to concerns.

Ellison currently ranks as the world’s fifth-richest person, with a net worth just under $250 billion. While this provides ample resources to cover the guarantee, most of his wealth is tied up in Oracle stock. That concentration raises questions about how quickly he could deploy cash if required, potentially forcing stock sales or additional pledges.

Before 2025, Ellison largely used his wealth for personal interests, including aircraft, yachts, Malibu property, and much of Hawaii’s Lanai island. He also supported Hollywood projects linked to his children.

By the end of the year, his fortune was tied to two uncertain arenas: the highly competitive AI infrastructure market and a debt-heavy media company led by his son. Together, these bets explain why Larry Ellison, rather than Elon Musk, ultimately defined tech’s most consequential year.