Larry Ellison
American business executive; cofounder, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle
| Larry Ellison
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 8 1944 (age 82 years old (as of 2026)
) United States |
| Occupation | business executive |
| Known for | Cofounder, chairman and CTO of Oracle |
| Education | University of Chicago; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Larry Ellison (born 17 August 1944) is an American business executive, cofounder, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle.[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Ellison eighth in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$169.1 billion; Forbes gives the source of wealth as Oracle.[2] The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as reported by Investopedia, put the figure at US$187 billion on 1 October 2026.[3]
Background
Born 17 August 1944 in the United States.[1]
Education
Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago; did not graduate.[1]
In its 2026 Forbes 400 profile text, Forbes stated: "Ellison never finished college. He started out building databases for the CIA."[1]
Career and companies
Cofounder, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle; CEO until 2014. Tesla board member 2018–2022. Owns nearly 50% of Paramount Skydance (formed August 2025).[1]
How the wealth was made
About 40% of Oracle, plus Paramount Skydance and other holdings.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this person in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | – | – | 5 | 5.8 |
| 1997 | – | – | 4 | 9.2 |
| 1998 | – | – | 23 | 4.9 |
| 1999 | – | – | 12 | 13.0 |
| 2001 | 4 | 26.0 | 4 | 21.9 |
| 2002 | 5 | 23.5 | 9 | 15.2 |
| 2003 | 6 | 16.6 | 9 | 18.0 |
| 2004 | 12 | 18.7 | 10 | 13.7 |
| 2005 | 9 | 18.4 | 5 | 17.0 |
| 2006 | 15 | 16.0 | 4 | 19.5 |
| 2007 | 11 | 21.5 | 4 | 26.0 |
| 2008 | 14 | 25.0 | 3 | 27.0 |
| 2009 | 4 | 22.5 | 3 | 27.0 |
| 2010 | 6 | 28.0 | 3 | 27.0 |
| 2011 | 5 | 39.5 | 3 | 33.0 |
| 2012 | 6 | 36.0 | 3 | 41.0 |
| 2013 | 5 | 43.0 | 3 | 41.0 |
| 2014 | 5 | 48.0 | 3 | 50.0 |
| 2015 | 5 | 54.3 | 3 | 47.5 |
| 2016 | 7 | 43.6 | 5 | 49.3 |
| 2017 | 7 | 52.2 | 5 | 59.0 |
| 2018 | 10 | 58.5 | 5 | 58.4 |
| 2019 | 7 | 62.5 | 5 | 65.0 |
| 2020 | 5 | 59.0 | 5 | 72.0 |
| 2021 | 7 | 93.0 | 7 | 117.3 |
| 2022 | 8 | 106.0 | 4 | 101.0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 107.0 | 3 | 158.0 |
| 2024 | 5 | 141.0 | 4 | 175.0 |
| 2025 | 4 | 192.0 | 2 | 276.0 |
| 2026 | 6 | 190.0 | 7 | 204.0 |
Philanthropy
His foundation gave the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change more than £52m in 2023 and had promised a further $218m, according to US filings reported by the Guardian.[5]
Signed the Giving Pledge in 2010. His pledge letter states: “Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95% of my wealth to charitable causes.”[6] On 3 December 2024 the University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), founded by Ellison, announced a strategic alliance with an investment of at least £130 million from EIT, including at least £100 million for joint research and £30 million for a doctoral training centre in AI. The university said EIT’s campus at the Oxford Science Park was due to open fully in 2027 at a cost of more than £1 billion.[7]
Political donations and public roles
Itemised contributions recorded by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Totals are lower bounds: only the top 100 records per name and cycle were retrieved, and memo entries are excluded.[8]
| Cycle | Total (US$, lower bound) | Records | Largest recipient committees (as filed with the FEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $31,007,945 | 7 | Opportunity Matters Fund ($30,007,945); Tennessee Conservatives PAC ($1,000,000) |
| 2024 | $189,666 | 19 | Team Rand ($62,900); NRCC ($41,300); NRSC ($41,300); Scalise Leadership Fund ($15,000) |
| 2026 | $269,500 | 34 | Grow the Majority ($100,000); NRSC ($50,000); One Team Senate Majority ($50,000); Free State PAC ($10,000) |
Lobbying by companies
Issue One reported in January 2026 that Oracle was part of the consortium of US investors that bought TikTok; the article did not give a 2025 lobbying total for Oracle.[9]
Controversies and legal cases
Company-level: on 27 September 2022 the SEC charged Oracle for the second time with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, involving subsidiaries in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and India. Without admitting or denying the findings, Oracle agreed to pay about $8 million in disgorgement and a $15 million penalty.[10]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
Gave $16.6 million to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) at its November 2017 gala, described as the largest single gift in FIDF history, to support well-being facilities on a new training campus.[11]
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
Al Jazeera reported that Qatar Holding was among the funders of Musk’s 2022 Twitter purchase, alongside Ellison.[12]
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
Company-level: Oracle is one of three managing investors (15% each, with Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX) in the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, established January 2026 under a US Executive Order.[13]
Other international links
UK: the Tony Blair Institute funding (see Philanthropy).[5] Foundation-level: the Ellison Institute of Technology is building a campus in Oxford, United Kingdom. Its alliance with the University of Oxford was announced on 3 December 2024, and EIT has since said it is “now looking at laboratory and office spaces covering an area of 2 million sq ft”.[7][14]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Larry Ellison (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/) Forbes, live record, real-time timestamp 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Investopedia, The 10 Richest People in the World (citing Bloomberg Billionaires Index, figures as of 1 Oct 2026) Investopedia, updated 2 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Guardian, Blair’s net zero intervention invites scrutiny of his institute’s donors The Guardian, 30 April 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ The Giving Pledge, Larry Ellison – pledger page and pledge letter The Giving Pledge, pledge 2010, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 University of Oxford, University of Oxford and Ellison Institute of Technology join forces in a transformative strategic alliance University of Oxford, 3 December 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "ELLISON, LAWRENCE / ELLISON, LARRY"; 2024 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried with the same parameters; top 100 records per name and cycle; compiler filtered by employer/occupation and excluded memo entries from totals U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Issue One, Armies of Lobbyists Helped Big Tech Rack up Victories During First Year of Trump's Second Term Issue One, 21 January 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Charges Oracle a Second Time for Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (press release 2022-173) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 27 September 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Record $53.8 million raised for IDF soldiers at Beverly Hills gala Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 5 November 2017, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Al Jazeera, Saudis ‘second largest investors’ in Twitter after Musk takeover Al Jazeera, 28 October 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ TikTok Newsroom, Announcement from the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC TikTok Newsroom, 23 January 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Ellison Institute of Technology, The Ellison Institute of Technology announces plans for a new expanded Oxford campus Ellison Institute of Technology, undated page, accessed 20 October 2026.