Two of the world’s most prominent technology executives, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Jensen Huang of Nvidia, saw their collective net worth rise by $11.6 billion on Tuesday, showing the market’s demand for artificial intelligence and enterprise software.
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and current chief technology officer, gained $5.9 billion in a single day as shares of Oracle Corp. climbed more than 2.4% to close at $234.96.
The increase places his real-time net worth at $279.5 billion, making him the second-richest person globally as of July 16, according to Forbes estimates.
Meanwhile, Jensen Huang, president and CEO of Nvidia, saw his fortune rise by $5.7 billion on the same day, bringing his net worth to $148.6 billion. Shares of Nvidia jumped over 4% to $170.70, continuing a rally that began in early 2024 as demand for the company’s graphics processors surged.
Some context
Ellison, who founded Oracle in 1977 and stepped down as chief executive in 2014, remains its largest shareholder, with roughly 40% ownership in the software giant. The company has grown significantly through a series of acquisitions, including its $28.3 billion purchase of health records firm Cerner in 2021.
In recent years, Oracle has also repositioned itself as a key infrastructure player in the artificial intelligence space, a shift that has driven renewed investor interest.
Now based on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he acquired nearly in full for $300 million in 2012, Ellison has continued to exert influence both in business and philanthropy. He previously sat on the board of Tesla, where he was one of the automaker’s largest individual shareholders before stepping down in 2022.
What to know
On the other hand, Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led the company since its inception, holds an estimated 3% stake. Under his leadership, Nvidia transitioned from a gaming chip firm into the dominant provider of AI hardware and software tools, a pivot that helped the company briefly surpass a $3 trillion market capitalization earlier this year.
Born in Taiwan and raised partly in Thailand before emigrating to the United States, Huang has become a central figure in the global tech boom. He has also made major philanthropic contributions, including $30 million to Stanford University and $50 million to Oregon State University, his alma mater.
Tuesday’s gains reflect broader optimism in AI-related equities, with both Oracle and Nvidia benefiting from investor confidence in technologies reshaping industries from health care to cloud computing.
