Larry Ellison, the New York-born Jewish co-founder of the multinational technology company Oracle, is a philanthropist to Jewish causes, including large contributions to the Friends of the IDF and the city of Sderot. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2010, promising to give away at least 95% of his wealth, and has said he has already given hundreds of millions to medical research and education.
Ellison, who never finished university and co-founded Software Development Laboratories – which later became Oracle – with $1,200 of his own money at age 33, eclipsed Elon Musk to briefly become the world’s richest man in September 2025, after his net worth topped $400b.
That single-day leap was powered by Ellison’s aggressive bet on artificial intelligence. Oracle has positioned itself as a foundational infrastructure provider for the AI boom, serving as a critical infrastructure partner for Project Stargate, a historic $500b. initiative backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, and MGX to build out US data centers. Though Oracle and OpenAI shelved specific data center expansions in early 2026 amid shifting infrastructure negotiations, Oracle maintains a monumental agreement to supply OpenAI with about 4.5 gigawatts of computing power in a deal valued at roughly $30b. annually – one of the largest cloud contracts ever struck.
The buildout has been staggeringly expensive: Oracle’s fiscal 2026 capital spending reached about $55.7b., its free cash flow swung deeply negative, and the corporation took on well over $100b. in debt to finance the expansion. On earnings calls, Ellison dismissed investor anxiety, arguing that demand for AI infrastructure is “astronomical.”
Ellison’s fortune has since proven extraordinarily volatile. He climbed back toward the No. 2 spot in June 2026 with a net worth near $300b., before Oracle’s shares plunged 40%-50% over the following months, erasing more than $100b. of his wealth. By mid-August 2026, he had slipped to eighth-richest, and Forbes’s real-time ranking placed him around sixth in late August, near $189b. – a figure that continues to swing sharply with Oracle’s stock.
From technology to media powerhouse
Beyond Oracle, the past year cemented Ellison as a media force. He financed his son David’s $8b. takeover of Paramount, which closed in August 2025 to form Paramount Skydance, making the elder Ellison the largest shareholder of the company that owns CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. A separate investor group including Oracle took a stake in TikTok’s US operations.
Paramount Skydance also moved to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery – owner of CNN and HBO – signing a definitive $110.9b. asset purchase agreement in late February, after Netflix withdrew from the contest. However, the deal is in regulatory limbo, facing a major antitrust lawsuit from state regulators, with settlement talks between Paramount and California officials collapsing in late August.
A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Ellison has drawn both praise and sharp criticism as his family’s reach across technology, entertainment, and news has expanded.