How Larry Ellison Dropped From World’s 2nd-Richest To No. 8 In Just 2 Months — Forbes

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

Topline Larry Ellison slid to become the world’s eighth-richest person on Friday, falling behind Nvidia’s Jensen Huang after his net worth shed $6 billion, as a monthslong decline in Oracle shares has lowered the firm’s chairman from his spot near the peak of the wealthiest billionaires.

Ellison, whose net worth is estimated at $192.6 billion as of market close Friday, now ranks No. 8 behind Jensen ($194.4 billion), marking a $104 billion decline for Ellison’s fortune since he ranked the world’s second-richest on June 2.

A decline followed Oracle telling investors it expected to raise $40 billion through debt and equity financing, with capital expenditures surging 162% to $55.7 billion and spending expected to top $95 billion by fiscal 2027.

Jacob Bourne, an analyst at eMarketer, told Reuters there are broader concerns about how Oracle would fund its capital spending to match its revenue projections, and Bank of America analysts separately flagged in a note cautioning that more than 50% of Oracle’s remaining performance obligation comes from OpenAI.

Melius Research analysts wrote last month that Oracle’s spending plans may not hold if OpenAI or Anthropic demands more computing capacity.

S&P Global also downgraded Oracle’s credit rating in July, arguing the firm’s “rapidly expanding” AI infrastructure business could pay off, but may be too expensive and could weaken Oracle’s financial position in the meantime.

$443 billion. That’s how much Oracle’s market valuation has dropped since peaking at $877.1 billion in September, hitting $433.5 billion as of Friday.

Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison is the chief executive of Paramount Skydance, agreed to provide an “irrevocable personal guarantee” of $40.4 billion to finance Paramount’s $110 deal for Warner Bros. Discovery in December. That deal has since been paused, however, after Paramount agreed to push back its acquisition to 2027 after a lawsuit filed by 12 states argued the transaction would result in “higher prices, lower quality and less content for film and television.” David Ellison, in an op-ed for The New York Times earlier this month, argued broader scrutiny of Paramount’s takeover is “not really about market share” and instead is centered on “whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.” David Ellison said there has been “speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions,” and claimed to have “regularly” voted for candidates of both parties and hold some views “that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans.” Larry Ellison backed President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection and has since established close ties to the Trump administration, appearing alongside Trump at the White House to announce a multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure project last year in which Oracle is a key participant. David Ellison reportedly hosted Trump and other Trump administration officials at a private dinner earlier this year as Paramount sought federal approval for its bid.

Oracle, once viewed as a potential winner of the booming AI infrastructure buildout, has since raised concerns among investors who appear to view the firm as taking on too much financial risk to fund its projects. Wall Street has cautioned that mega-cap tech firms may be taking on too much spending to match growing demand for AI products, with firms like Amazon expecting to spend more than $200 billion. Oracle’s backlog has exploded to $638 billion, but more than half is reportedly associated with OpenAI, and some analysts have cautioned that most of those funds may not be guaranteed.

How Larry Ellison Dropped From World’s 2nd-Richest To No. 8 In Just 2 Months — Forbes | AIPROPX