Do you know that feeling when someone you thought was established for decades comes back with a thunderclap? That’s exactly what happened with Larry Ellison last September. At 81 years old, this guy dethroned Elon Musk to become the richest person on the planet. And not just barely — his fortune exploded by over 100 billion in a single day. We're talking about 393 billion versus 385 for Musk. Completely crazy.

What really intrigued me is how he got there. Ellison didn’t inherit a fortune. Born in 1944 in the Bronx, abandoned by his mother at 9 months old, raised by his aunt in Chicago in a family with no means. He didn’t even finish his studies — he dropped out of college after his adoptive mother died. But instead of complaining, he drove to Berkeley, then ended up at Ampex Corporation in the early 70s as a programmer. That’s where he participated in a project for the CIA: designing a database. No small feat.

In 1977, with two colleagues, he invested $2,000 ($1,200 of his own) to found what would become Oracle. The idea was simple but brilliant: commercialize database technology. Not invent it, but monetize it. And it worked. Oracle went public in 1986 and became indispensable. For forty years, Ellison led the company with an iron fist, occupying almost all executive positions.

But here’s the interesting part: Oracle had fallen behind Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure in cloud computing. Until generative AI arrived. Suddenly, demand for AI infrastructure skyrocketed, and who exactly had what it took? Oracle. In September 2025, the company announced massive contracts: $300 billion over five years with OpenAI, plus other agreements. The stock price jumped 40% in one day — the biggest gain since 1992. That’s Ellison’s “late revenge.”

His son David isn’t sitting still either. He acquired Paramount Global for $8 billion ($6 billion financed by the family). While the father builds his tech empire, the son expands into Hollywood. Two generations, two sectors, a combined powerhouse.

Now, what really fascinates people is his private life. In 2024, Larry Ellison discreetly married Jolin Zhu, a 47-year-old Chinese woman who is his junior. The information came from a University of Michigan document mentioning “Larry Ellison and his wife Jolin.” That’s his fourth marriage. Someone joked that Ellison loves surfing and romantic relationships with the same intensity. And that’s not wrong.

Because Ellison isn’t just a businessman. He’s a true adventurer. He owns 98% of Lanai Island in Hawaii, several villas, a world-class yacht. He nearly died surfing in 1992 but that didn’t stop him — he seriously took up sailing. In 2013, his Oracle Team USA won the America’s Cup after a spectacular comeback. He even founded SailGP in 2018, a league of fast catamarans attracting investors like Anne Hathaway and Mbappé.

Tennis is the same. He revitalized the Indian Wells tournament, turning it into the “fifth Grand Slam.” And unlike many billionaires, Ellison remains disciplined. Between 1990 and 2000, he trained for hours every day, only drank water and green tea. At 81, he looks twenty years younger than his peers.

On the political front, he has long supported the Republican Party. In 2015, he funded Marco Rubio; in 2022, $15 million for Tim Scott. And in January 2025, he appeared at the White House with Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman to announce a $500 billion AI data center network. It’s business strategy, but also power.

On philanthropy, he signed the “Giving Pledge” in 2010, promising to give away 95% of his fortune. But unlike Gates and Buffett, he remains solitary. He donated $200 million to USC for a cancer research center, and recently announced redirecting funds to the Ellison Institute of Technology with Oxford to study health, agriculture, and energy. His philanthropy is very personal, not collective.

Larry Ellison married in 2024 and reached the top of the global fortunes in 2025. He’s a fascinating character — stubborn, combative, never willing to compromise. Starting from a CIA contract, he built a database empire, then positioned himself perfectly in AI. At 81, he proves that the old guard of Silicon Valley isn’t finished surprising. The billionaire throne often changes hands, but at least here, Ellison has shown he knows how to stay relevant.