Larry Ellison
 Ellison in 2016. Photo: Oracle PR Hartmann Studios, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Net worth | $190 billion Forbes 2026 list, March 24, 2026[1] |
|---|---|
| World rank | 6th (Forbes 2026)[1] |
| Source of wealth | Oracle |
| Companies | Oracle Corporation (co-founder, executive chairman, CTO); Skydance (largest shareholder) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Born | August 17, 1944, New York City, US |
| Education | University of Illinois and University of Chicago (did not finish) |
| Known for | Co-founding Oracle |
| Net worth figures are estimates by the source named and change every day. | |
Larry Ellison is an American businessman who co-founded the software company Oracle.[2] He was its chief executive from 1977 to 2014 and has been executive chairman and chief technology officer since.[2] On the Forbes 2026 billionaires list, a snapshot taken on March 24, 2026, he was sixth in the world with an estimated $190 billion.[1]
Net worth
- September 10, 2025: a jump in Oracle's share price briefly made him the richest person in the world, at about $393 billion.[2]
- March 2026: $190 billion, sixth on the Forbes list.[1]
He is Oracle's largest shareholder, with 42.9% of its shares in late 2022, and the largest shareholder of the media company Skydance, run by his son David.[2] He also owns 98% of the land on Lānaʻi, the sixth-largest Hawaiian island, and a stake in Tesla.[2]
How the fortune was made
Ellison was born in New York City, was adopted as a baby by his great-aunt and great-uncle, and grew up in Chicago. He went to the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago but did not finish a degree.[2] In 1977 he, Ed Oates and Bruce Scott joined Software Development Laboratories, the company Bob Miner had started months before; they put in $2,000, $1,200 of it Ellison's.[2] An early project was a database for the CIA code-named "Oracle", and the company later took that name.[2]
Oracle grew into one of the biggest software makers in the world. It bought its rival Sun Microsystems in 2010, which also gave it the MySQL database, and NetSuite in 2016 for $9.3 billion; Ellison owned 35% of NetSuite.[2] In 2010 The Wall Street Journal reported he had been the best-paid executive of the decade, with $1.84 billion.[2]
Photos
-
Ellison speaking at an Oracle event. Photo: Oracle Corporate Communications, CC BY 2.0
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Forbes, "Larry Ellison", 2026 World's Billionaires list (snapshot of March 24, 2026), read November 3, 2026. Net worth is a Forbes estimate.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Wikipedia, "Larry Ellison", read November 3, 2026. Billionaire Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.