Ellison's Oracle bets big on AI in major deal with OpenAI

Billionaire Elon Musk is at risk of losing his title as the world's wealthiest person to Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, whose software giant appears poised for massive AI riches through a major deal with OpenAI.

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Ellison, 81, amassed about $95 billion (about R1.7 trillion) in additional wealth on Wednesday as Oracle shares skyrocketed after the nearly 50-year-old company forecast massive revenue growth thanks to large contracts that will dwarf current revenue.

That rise lifted Ellison's overall fortune to nearly $390 billion compared with Musk's roughly $436 billion, according to Forbes' real-time billionaires index.

A Bloomberg wealth index placed Ellison's bounty slightly ahead of Musk's, designating the Oracle chief number one at the moment. The difference in the tallies relates to how some of their huge holdings are estimated.

Ellison and Musk are close friends, with the Oracle boss often coming to Musk's aid during challenging periods in the Tesla tycoon's career.

He invested over $1 billion in Musk's buyout of Twitter and served on Tesla's board for many years.