Larry Ellison has lost $159 billion, almost half his net worth, over the past year.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows Ellison’s net worth has fallen by 49.2% to $164 billion, making him the world’s ninth-richest person. He started the year ranked fifth — ahead of Mark Zuckerberg and behind Google’s Sergey Brin.
The 82-year-old’s wealth is tied to his shares in Oracle, the tech company he cofounded in 1977. Its share price is down 39% since the start of 2026, and over 53% since November 2025.
That included a nearly 9% drop on Monday as investors reacted to Oracle’s announcement that it is issuing new shares and bonds to raise $20 billion. The stock fell another 1.5% in premarket trade on Tuesday.
Investors are wary about the size of the raise, with growing concerns about how much Oracle is spending to build the data centers needed for its AI contracts, and whether it can deliver on the massive infrastructure expansion.
The share sale would also dilute existing investors’ stakes, and the added debt would heighten concerns about the company’s already hefty borrowing.
A broader tech sell-off has also reflected fears that the AI arms race is cooling. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had its worst post-earnings reaction last week, with its stock falling 13%.
It’s a sharp reversal from 2025, when Oracle stock surged on enthusiasm that it could become a major provider of AI infrastructure.
In September 2025, Ellison was briefly the world’s richest person as Oracle shares jumped some 40% in a single day.
He is now barely in the top 10 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, hanging on below Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Elon Musk remains the richest person in the world by a massive margin, though his net worth has fallen from trillionaire levels.
In mid-September, Oracle began a fresh round of layoffs, as Business Insider first reported. The job cuts came as the company racks up debt to fund its AI spending and affected double-digit percentages on some teams.
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