Business can be hard at times. Sometimes, you are on top of the game, and the next day you are not even in the picture. Larry Ellison has just experienced something similar.
On September 14, 2025, he briefly became the world’s richest person, surpassing Elon Musk, after Oracle, the tech company he founded, announced a groundbreaking deal with OpenAI.
But just days later, his net worth dropped by $34 billion, as concerns over the deal and the future of the tech market started to rise.
Why did Larry Ellison’s net worth fall?
Ellison’s net worth rocketed to $393 billion in early September after Oracle reported better-than-expected earnings and announced a $300 billion, five-year cloud contract with OpenAI.
This deal sent Oracle shares soaring as much as 41% in a single trading day, the largest rally in the company’s history. Investors celebrated the agreement, believing Oracle would become an important player in the AI infrastructure landscape.
Ellison’s personal fortune also grew by $101 billion overnight, putting him at the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and briefly knocking Elon Musk from the first spot.
Investors on OpenAI contract
Despite an initial wave of market euphoria, skepticism about he deal quickly spread.
Many analysts flagged major risks tied to the OpenAI contract. Oracle’s business model in cloud computing remains less proven than market leaders like Amazon or Microsoft.
OpenAI’s annual revenue, estimated at around $12 billion is dwarfed by the $300 billion contract. Investors worried that OpenAI might not have the financial or operational capacity to fulfill such a large commitment.
Since most of the revenue was classified as “remaining performance obligations,” which means promises for future services rather than guaranteed income, there was a real risk that parts of the deal could be delayed, renegotiated, or cancelled.
This uncertainty shook investor confidence and led to swift profit-taking in Oracle’s stock, which sank 5% from its highs within days.