Topline
Tech billionaire Larry Ellison’s fortune swelled Tuesday as shares of his cloud computing firm Oracle spiked to an all-time high, vaulting Ellison to the third spot on ’ billionaires list.
Key Facts
Ellison got about $18 billion richer by middayTuesday, as his net worth rose from $173.3 billion to $191.7 billion, surpassing those of Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg ($174 billion) and Europe’s richest man Bernard Arnault ($172 billion) as the value of his roughly 40% stake in Oracle surged.
The 80-year-old Ellison is now only behind his buddy, Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($247 billion net worth), and Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos ($197 billion) as the wealthiest people on earth.
Tuesday was a good day for all Oracle shareholders, as the stock rose as much as 14.7% to $160.50 per share, shattering the prior all-time high of $146.59 set in July.
The rally followed Oracle’s quarterly earnings report, delivered after Monday’s market close, which brought “all good news for Oracle,” summarized Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler in a Tuesday note to clients, as the company comfortably topped consensus analyst estimates for quarterly revenue and profits.
Surprising Fact
After its market capitalization climbed from $386 billion to about $435 billion, Oracle surpassed Costco, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble to become the 17th-largest American public company Tuesday, according to FactSet data.
Key Background
Oracle also announced late Monday it inked a partnership with Amazon Web Services to allow AWS customers to use Oracle artificial intelligence applications within the Amazon cloud. The deal completes Oracle’s “triple crown” of partnerships with cloud computing giants with its previously announced team ups with Google and Microsoft, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick. Ellison is the chairman and head of technology of the wide-spanning business software firm Oracle, and cofounded the company in 1977. The oft-outspoken Ellison, who previously served on Tesla’s board of directors, is set to become the controlling shareholder of CBS parent Paramount and is a major donor to Republican causes, dishing out millions in his backing of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as the GOP presidential nominee.