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| Oracle's Larry Ellison briefly surpasses Elon Musk as world's richest man | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Larry Ellison, pictured at an Oval Office meeting earlier this year, has overtaken Elon Musk in fortune | Larry Ellison, pictured at an Oval Office meeting earlier this year, has overtaken Elon Musk in fortune |
| Elon Musk briefly lost his title as the world's richest person to Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle and an ally of US President Donald Trump. | |
| Ellison's wealth surged to $393bn (£290bn) on Wednesday morning, surpassing Musk's $385bn (£284bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. | Ellison's wealth surged to $393bn (£290bn) on Wednesday morning, surpassing Musk's $385bn (£284bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. |
| The jump came after shares in Oracle, which make up a significant part of Ellison's fortune, soared more than 40%, boosted by the database software company's surprisingly rosy outlook for its cloud infrastructure business and artificial intelligence (AI) deals. | |
| But the firm's share price had shed some of those gains by the end of the day, putting Musk back on top. | |
| Before briefly losing it to Ellison, Musk had held the title of world's richest person for nearly one year. | |
| He could receive a pay package worth over $1tn (£740bn) if he hits a list of ambitious targets over the next decade, the board of the electric car firm has proposed. | |
| But shares in Musk's most valuable business, Tesla, have fallen this year. | But shares in Musk's most valuable business, Tesla, have fallen this year. |
| The electric vehicle maker has grappled with investor jitters over the Trump administration's rollback of electric vehicle initiatives, on top of consumer backlash to Musk's political involvement. | The electric vehicle maker has grappled with investor jitters over the Trump administration's rollback of electric vehicle initiatives, on top of consumer backlash to Musk's political involvement. |
| Oracle has recently been propelled by growing demand for data centre infrastructure. | Oracle has recently been propelled by growing demand for data centre infrastructure. |
| The company projected as part of its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday that revenue from its cloud business will jump 77% this year, to $18bn, with further growth expected in the coming years. | The company projected as part of its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday that revenue from its cloud business will jump 77% this year, to $18bn, with further growth expected in the coming years. |
| Oracle has reported a surge in demand among AI companies for its data centres, which helped push its stock dramatically higher. | Oracle has reported a surge in demand among AI companies for its data centres, which helped push its stock dramatically higher. |
| It signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with customers in the last quarter and anticipates several more deals in the months ahead, chief executive Safra Catz said on Tuesday. | It signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with customers in the last quarter and anticipates several more deals in the months ahead, chief executive Safra Catz said on Tuesday. |
| Trump ties and media ambitions | Trump ties and media ambitions |
| Ellison, 81, helped start Oracle in 1977 and rose to prominence in the 1990s, when he became a public figure known as much for his lavish lifestyle as for the database company behind his fortune. | Ellison, 81, helped start Oracle in 1977 and rose to prominence in the 1990s, when he became a public figure known as much for his lavish lifestyle as for the database company behind his fortune. |
| He was Oracle's chief executive until 2014 and is now the company's chairman and chief technology officer. | He was Oracle's chief executive until 2014 and is now the company's chairman and chief technology officer. |
| And he has positioned himself as an ally to President Trump. | And he has positioned himself as an ally to President Trump. |
| When Trump returned to the White House in January, Ellison appeared alongside OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son to announce a project called Stargate, to build out AI infrastructure in the US. | When Trump returned to the White House in January, Ellison appeared alongside OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son to announce a project called Stargate, to build out AI infrastructure in the US. |
| Oracle has also emerged as a possible buyer of TikTok, the app owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. TikTok is facing a ban in the US unless it divests itself of its ByteDance ownership. | Oracle has also emerged as a possible buyer of TikTok, the app owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. TikTok is facing a ban in the US unless it divests itself of its ByteDance ownership. |
| In January, when asked whether he was open to Musk buying TikTok, Trump responded: "I'd like Larry to buy it, too." | In January, when asked whether he was open to Musk buying TikTok, Trump responded: "I'd like Larry to buy it, too." |
| Ellison's media ambitions extend beyond TikTok. | Ellison's media ambitions extend beyond TikTok. |
| He funded the bulk of a $8bn bid by his son to acquire Paramount, which owns CBS and MTV. | He funded the bulk of a $8bn bid by his son to acquire Paramount, which owns CBS and MTV. |
| That deal between Paramount and the media company Skydance, which is controlled by his son David, closed last month. | That deal between Paramount and the media company Skydance, which is controlled by his son David, closed last month. |