It’s a story almost too cinematic for Silicon Valley: Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, is back on top, nearly half a century after launching the tech giant. Fortune magazine once asked if Ellison could become the world’s richest person, while BusinessWeek declared him cool again, noting that Silicon Valley’s bad boy is having his revenge. That was 25 years ago but looking at today’s headlines, those covers could just as easily run this week.
The octogenarian billionaire is grabbing attention again thanks to a wave of cloud computing deals that sent Oracle’s stock soaring 35.9% and put Ellison’s fortune close to $400 billion, second only to Elon Musk. Just days later, news broke that Paramount, the media conglomerate Ellison’s family controls, is preparing a bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, a move that could instantly make Ellison a major force in Hollywood and cultural influence.
Ellison’s Quiet Power Moves
Ellison has long been famous for his yachts, his Hawaiian island, and his support of Donald Trump, but more recently, he has quietly maneuvered back into the center of power. At Paramount, his son David seems to be nudging CBS News toward the right, bringing in Trump supporter and former Hudson Institute CEO Kenneth Weinstein as ombudsman, while reportedly considering Bari Weiss for a leadership role.
Ellison is also firmly in the tech spotlight. In 2022, Oracle began providing U.S. infrastructure for TikTok after security concerns arose over the Chinese-owned platform used by more than 170 million Americans. Despite his flashy lifestyle and past bad boy reputation, Ellison has earned recognition as a tech titan who can handle some of the most complex computing challenges like orchestrating thousands of computers to run AI systems.
Oracle and the AI Gold Rush
For years, massive AI-level revenue eluded him. That changed with Oracle’s recent cloud deals, which sent the company’s stock and Ellison’s wealth skyrocketing. While Oracle dominated databases in the 1990s, it stumbled during the business shift to cloud applications. Now, with AI as its focus, the company is partnering closely with OpenAI, reportedly securing a $300 billion, five-year computing deal.
Oracle’s approach to AI has been strategic. Instead of building its own custom AI chips like Microsoft, Amazon, or Google, the company relied on Nvidia. Ellison led the way: at a 2024 dinner, he invited Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to his Palo Alto sushi restaurant, saying, Please take our money. It worked, he told analysts later. Within months, Oracle secured more GPUs, closed the OpenAI compute deal, and launched the half-trillion-dollar Stargate project.
The company’s cloud ventures have been a mix of missteps and breakthroughs. Its 2016 attempt flopped, but a 2018 relaunch proved cheaper and more flexible than competitors. In 2020, Zoom’s traffic surge ran smoothly on Oracle’s cloud, and in 2022, TikTok moved over 100 million U.S. users’ data with minimal disruption, a feat analysts called technically impressive.
Risks and the Road Ahead
Yet huge risks remain. Ellison is no stranger to risk in life, and Oracle’s AI push is no different. The company outsources land, data centers, and power to partners, who may or may not deliver. OpenAI, one of Oracle’s largest clients, is still building a profitable business. As Chirag Dekate of Gartner notes,
“When you have just one handful of customers, and one of those customers goes away, you are left with a really large hole that you now need to figure out how to fill.”
Larry Ellison has always played the long game combining daring, strategy, and timing. Today, he’s not just back in the headlines he’s shaping the future of AI, tech, and media, proving that even after nearly five decades, he can still call the shots.
