For a few hours, Larry Ellison was the richest man in the world. The Oracle co-founder surged ahead on September 10 after his company’s shares spiked following stronger-than-expected earnings, briefly overtaking Elon Musk in net worth, according to Bloomberg. But by the next trading day, Musk had regained his crown.
Ellison’s wealth jumped by nearly $89 billion in a single day as Oracle’s stock climbed on the back of solid cloud and database growth. It was one of the sharpest single-day gains recorded in recent years, pushing him ahead of Musk’s fortune tied to Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures. For a moment, it looked like the quiet enterprise software billionaire had dethroned the headline-grabbing entrepreneur.
Markets, however, move quickly. Tesla shares recovered, and so did Musk’s position. The two men remain neck-and-neck in Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, with fluctuations driven by daily stock movements. It’s a reminder that at these levels of wealth, rankings aren’t static. They reflect not only personal business decisions but also the wider moods of global markets.
For Ellison, the brief number one spot was still symbolic. Oracle has long been considered a more traditional tech giant, often overshadowed by flashier names in AI, EVs, and consumer tech. Beating expectations in cloud services and infrastructure has given the company fresh attention, showing it can still compete in a market dominated by younger firms.
For Musk, reclaiming the top slot reinforces his ongoing influence. Tesla continues to face competition from Chinese EV makers, while SpaceX is pressing ahead with Starship and its Starlink internet service. Despite challenges, his empire still commands investor faith strong enough to keep him at the very peak of global wealth.
Analysts point out that the title of “world’s richest person” is less about permanence and more about momentum. In recent years, it has bounced between Musk, Bernard Arnault of LVMH, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and now Ellison. Each shift reflects where investor confidence lies at a particular moment—luxury goods, e-commerce, space tech, or enterprise software.
So while Ellison may no longer be number one, his brief climb showed that legacy tech companies are far from finished. And for Musk, it’s another reminder that even at the very top, there’s always someone right behind you waiting for the next market swing.