Larry Ellison today dominates the world of the super-rich: from database pioneer to king of the AI era

In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping the global landscape of wealth and power, an unexpected figure has risen to the top: Larry Ellison. On September 10, 2025, Ellison’s 81st birthday coincided with a historic moment. That day, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Oracle co-founder officially surpassed Elon Musk as the world’s richest person, amassing a net worth of $393 billion compared to Musk’s $385 billion. A surprising leap, especially considering how Ellison and his tech giant had remained in the background during the traditional cloud computing boom.

But what makes Larry Ellison, now a central figure in Silicon Valley despite his age, still capable of reinventing himself and claiming new crowns? The answer lies in a rare combination of stubbornness, strategic vision, and what we might call “entrepreneurial longevity.”

Larry Ellison in 2025: When AI crowns the world’s richest man

The exact moment Ellison became the world’s wealthiest was no coincidence. Oracle, his creation, announced four massive contracts in the most recent quarter totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. Among these was a multi-year deal worth $300 billion with OpenAI. The stock market reacted violently: Oracle’s shares soared 40% in a single session, the biggest daily gain since 1992, the year it went public on Nasdaq.

Context is crucial to understanding this surge in value. During the cloud computing boom of previous years, Oracle had experienced relative eclipse, overshadowed by giants like Amazon (with AWS) and Microsoft (with Azure). However, the shift from traditional cloud computing to AI infrastructure opened a new chapter. The demand for sophisticated data centers, massive computational capacity, and reliable data management systems transformed databases—Oracle’s historic specialty—into an invaluable commodity. Ellison, once again, found himself in the right place at the right time.

From outsider programmer to tech magnate: Ellison’s rebellious journey

To understand how Ellison reached this triumph, it’s essential to trace his unconventional path. Born in 1944 in the Bronx to a teenage mother who couldn’t support him, Ellison was raised by an aunt in Chicago in financial hardship. His adoptive father was a simple state employee. Although admitted to the University of Illinois, Ellison dropped out in his second year after his adoptive mother died. He later enrolled at the University of Chicago but only stayed one semester. He was a rebel from the start.

After incomplete studies, Ellison traveled across the U.S., working as a freelance programmer in Chicago before heading to Berkeley, California, then the epicenter of the tech counterculture of the time. “People there seemed freer and smarter,” he would later say. The real opportunity came in the early 1970s when he got a job at Ampex Corporation, a tech company specializing in data storage and processing. There, he participated in a notable project: developing a database system for the CIA, internally called “Oracle.”

This experience taught him something fundamental: the real value wasn’t just technological innovation, but its commercial application. In 1977, at age 32, along with colleagues Bob Miner and Ed Oates, he invested $2,000 (including $1,200 of his own) to found Software Development Laboratories. Their decisive insight was to turn the CIA project into a universal commercial software product, naming it directly “Oracle.” In 1986, the company went public on Nasdaq, marking the start of a new chapter in tech history.

Oracle’s “late victory” in the age of artificial intelligence

While many observers in recent years had written Oracle off as a relic of the pre-cloud era, Ellison demonstrated a vision others lacked. In summer 2025, Oracle announced a massive organizational restructuring, cutting thousands of jobs, especially in traditional hardware and legacy software departments. Simultaneously, the company redirected huge investments toward data centers and AI infrastructure.

This was not a strategic retreat but a calculated repositioning. Generative AI created an unprecedented demand for robust, reliable, and highly specialized computational infrastructure. Oracle, with its decades-long expertise in managing complex data and building critical systems for large corporations, found itself exceptionally well-positioned to serve this new market. The $300 billion OpenAI contract is just the beginning of what could become a flood of orders in the new AI decade.

To some extent, Ellison now embodies the paradox of longevity in tech: the so-called “dinosaurs” often possess qualities that newcomers lack. Oracle doesn’t have the freshness of an AI startup, but it has what startups cannot afford: proven reliability, global reach among enterprises, and above all, legacy infrastructure that, when transformed, becomes indispensable.

A life without compromises: sports, marriages, and the secret of youth at 81

What makes Ellison an even more fascinating figure beyond his business acumen is his personal life, characterized by a lively contradiction: extreme luxury paired with almost ascetic discipline. He owns 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, numerous villas in California, and a collection of yachts among the most luxurious in the world. Yet, he maintains a daily workout routine that would make professional athletes envious.

His passion for water is almost obsessive. In 1992, after a near-death surfing accident, he didn’t abandon the sea but elevated it to sailing. In 2013, his Oracle Team USA made a legendary comeback, winning the America’s Cup, one of the most prestigious trophies in global sports. In 2018, he founded SailGP, a league of ultra-modern catamarans that now attracts investors like Anne Hathaway and Kylian Mbappé.

Tennis is another obsession. He transformed the Indian Wells tournament into what is called the “fifth Grand Slam” of tennis. But beyond sports, his physical longevity results from a nearly monastic discipline: daily exercise for hours, exclusive consumption of water and green tea, strictly controlled diet. At 81, he is often described as “two decades younger” than his peers.

On the romantic front, Ellison has been married five times and had numerous public relationships. In 2024, he quietly married Jolin Zhu, a Chinese woman 47 years his junior, a fact revealed through a university document. According to the South China Morning Post, Zhu was born in Shenyang, China, and graduated from the University of Michigan. Many joke that Ellison, like the ocean he loves, is attracted both to waves and women—both seem irresistible to him.

Ellison’s legacy: from tech empire to personal philanthropy

In 2010, Ellison signed the “Giving Pledge,” committing to donate at least 95% of his wealth to charity. Unlike Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, he prefers to operate alone rather than through collective philanthropic consortia. In an interview with the New York Times, he said: “I deeply value solitude and don’t want to be influenced by others’ ideas.”

In 2016, he donated $200 million to the University of Southern California to establish an oncology research center. More recently, he announced that a significant portion of his wealth would be channeled into the Ellison Institute of Technology, founded in collaboration with Oxford University, focusing on research in medicine, sustainable agriculture, and clean energy. On social media, he wrote: “Our goal is to design a new generation of life-saving medicines, build efficient agricultural systems, and develop renewable, sustainable energies.”

On the political stage, Ellison remains a constant presence. For decades, he has supported the Republican Party and has significantly funded conservative candidates and initiatives. In 2015, he financed Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, and in 2022, he donated $15 million to Senator Tim Scott’s Super PAC. In January 2025, he appeared at the White House alongside CEOs Masayoshi Son of SoftBank and Sam Altman of OpenAI to announce an ambitious project for a global AI data center network worth $500 billion.

The expansion of the Ellison empire: from databases to Hollywood

Ellison’s wealth isn’t confined to his personal fortune. His son, David Ellison, recently orchestrated the acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS and MTV, for $8 billion, with $6 billion coming from family funds. This move marks the official entry of the Ellison dynasty into Hollywood. While the father dominates Silicon Valley and global tech infrastructure, the son expands the family influence into entertainment and media. Two generations building a cross-sector empire capable of operating simultaneously in technology, data, and content.

Conclusion: When the “dinosaurs” teach the “young talents”

At the dawn of 2026, Larry Ellison represents a rare phenomenon in modern entrepreneurial history: the survivor who not only endures but triumphs. Starting from a CIA contract and $2,000 initial investment, he built a global database conglomerate and, with strategic vision, secured a leading position in the AI era—what many call a spectacular “late comeback.”

At 81, Ellison continues to embody the spirit of that boy who dropped out of college, moved to Berkeley, and refused compromises. Wealth, power, marriages, sports, and philanthropy—his life has never lacked topics and has always stayed at the center of attention. He is the old “nonconformist” of Silicon Valley: stubborn, combative, never willing to settle for mediocrity.

The throne of the world’s richest may yet change hands in future market dynamics. But for now, Larry Ellison has unequivocally shown the world that, in an age where AI is reshaping everything it touches, the legend of the old guard’s tech giants is far from over. In fact, it might just be beginning its most significant chapter.