Amid ‘Larry Ellison vs Elon Musk’, a look at Top 10 richest people in the world
The debate for who is richer—Oracle’s Larry Ellison or Tesla’s Elon Musk—warrants a look at who is among the Top 10 richest persons in the world.
Larry Ellison is in rarefied air and unenviable company, but it’s the rest of the richest of the rich that are gasping at the eye-watering surge in net worth.
In a stunning few minutes after markets opened on Wednesday, the stock of Ellison’s Oracle Corp. rocketed by a third, enough for him to temporarily wrest the title of “the world’s richest person” from longtime holder Elon Musk. But the stock market is fickle, and Musk was back at the top by the end of the day.
The brief switch in the rankings came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle, powered by multi-billion-dollar deals in the AI cloud business. The story of Musk’s Tesla Inc. is exactly the opposite—its market share in the US is at its lowest since 2017, putting the company on course for a second straight year of sales declines. The stock has declined 14% so far in 2025.
Eliison has about 40% stake in Oracle. Musk owns 15.57% of Tesla.
{{/usCountry}}Eliison has about 40% stake in Oracle. Musk owns 15.57% of Tesla.
{{/usCountry}}According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires index, Musk’s net worth stands at $436.1 billion, while that of Ellison is $387.6 billion. At the time of the brief switch, both had a personal fortune in excess of $400 billion each.
{{/usCountry}}According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires index, Musk’s net worth stands at $436.1 billion, while that of Ellison is $387.6 billion. At the time of the brief switch, both had a personal fortune in excess of $400 billion each.
{{/usCountry}}That, according to the Associated Press, can fund the lifestyles of 5 million American families for a year, about the entire population of Florida, allowing them to all quit their jobs. Or they could tell all of South Africa to take a vacation for a year and produce nothing, for that’s the size of its gross domestic product.
{{/usCountry}}That, according to the Associated Press, can fund the lifestyles of 5 million American families for a year, about the entire population of Florida, allowing them to all quit their jobs. Or they could tell all of South Africa to take a vacation for a year and produce nothing, for that’s the size of its gross domestic product.
{{/usCountry}}But where do the richest of the rich in this equation? Quite far behind.
Top 10 Richest People In The World
- Elon Musk (Net Worth: $439 billion): Musk is known for leading companies like Tesla and SpaceX. His fortune comes largely from his holdings in Tesla (automotive & energy) and in SpaceX. Besides, he is involved with Neuralink, The Boring Company, and social/digital media ventures. His wealth is very sensitive to stock market movements and corporate performance.
- Larry Ellison (Net worth: $ 386 billion): The executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle gets most of his wealth from shares of the firm he co-founded, plus other investments. As of mid-2025, he has been near the top of the richest-people charts.
- Mark Zuckerberg (Net worth: $ 259 billion): The founder of Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) is pushing into AI with expectations of future growth and investor interest. His stake in Meta remains the largest component of his wealth.
- Jeff Bezos (Net worth: $243 billion): The founder of Amazon.com Inc., which remains a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, streaming, logistics, etc. He also owns Blue Origin (aerospace) and The Washington Post. Much of his wealth is tied to Amazon’s performance.
- Larry Page (Net worth: $199 billion): A co-founder of Google, which is now part of Alphabet Inc. led by CEO Sundar Pichai. Though he has stepped back from day-to-day leadership, he retains a large stake in Alphabet, and benefits from Google’s dominance in search, advertising, cloud, etc.
- Sergey Brin (Net worth: $185 billion): Also a co-founder of Google. He has several interests but much of his fortune is from his stock holdings. His net worth has seen growth with Alphabet’s share price.
- Jensen Huang (Net worth: $ 154 billion): The co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, a company central to graphics processing units, AI chips, machine-learning infrastructure. As demand for AI and high-performance computing increases, his wealth has grown sharply.
- Steve Ballmer (Net worth: $ 152 billion): A former CEO of Microsoft. Although no longer running Microsoft, he retains major shareholdings. Microsoft’s continued business across cloud, software, enterprise services contributes to his net worth.
- Bernard Arnault (Net worth: $151 billion): A French luxury goods magnate and head of LVMH (Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy). The LVMH Group owns many top luxury brands across fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, wines & spirits. Global demand for luxury has remained strong, especially in emerging markets, supporting his wealth.
- Warren Buffett (Net worth: $146 billion): The ‘Oracle of Omaha’, legendary investor, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. known for value investing, long-term holdings, acquiring companies. Despite being much older (and wiser) and less involved in technology, Buffett’s investment legacy and diversified holdings keep him among the very richest.
A Trillion-Dollar Salary For Elon Musk?
{{/usCountry}}But where do the richest of the rich in this equation? Quite far behind.
Top 10 Richest People In The World
- Elon Musk (Net Worth: $439 billion): Musk is known for leading companies like Tesla and SpaceX. His fortune comes largely from his holdings in Tesla (automotive & energy) and in SpaceX. Besides, he is involved with Neuralink, The Boring Company, and social/digital media ventures. His wealth is very sensitive to stock market movements and corporate performance.
- Larry Ellison (Net worth: $ 386 billion): The executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle gets most of his wealth from shares of the firm he co-founded, plus other investments. As of mid-2025, he has been near the top of the richest-people charts.
- Mark Zuckerberg (Net worth: $ 259 billion): The founder of Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) is pushing into AI with expectations of future growth and investor interest. His stake in Meta remains the largest component of his wealth.
- Jeff Bezos (Net worth: $243 billion): The founder of Amazon.com Inc., which remains a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, streaming, logistics, etc. He also owns Blue Origin (aerospace) and The Washington Post. Much of his wealth is tied to Amazon’s performance.
- Larry Page (Net worth: $199 billion): A co-founder of Google, which is now part of Alphabet Inc. led by CEO Sundar Pichai. Though he has stepped back from day-to-day leadership, he retains a large stake in Alphabet, and benefits from Google’s dominance in search, advertising, cloud, etc.
- Sergey Brin (Net worth: $185 billion): Also a co-founder of Google. He has several interests but much of his fortune is from his stock holdings. His net worth has seen growth with Alphabet’s share price.
- Jensen Huang (Net worth: $ 154 billion): The co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, a company central to graphics processing units, AI chips, machine-learning infrastructure. As demand for AI and high-performance computing increases, his wealth has grown sharply.
- Steve Ballmer (Net worth: $ 152 billion): A former CEO of Microsoft. Although no longer running Microsoft, he retains major shareholdings. Microsoft’s continued business across cloud, software, enterprise services contributes to his net worth.
- Bernard Arnault (Net worth: $151 billion): A French luxury goods magnate and head of LVMH (Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy). The LVMH Group owns many top luxury brands across fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, wines & spirits. Global demand for luxury has remained strong, especially in emerging markets, supporting his wealth.
- Warren Buffett (Net worth: $146 billion): The ‘Oracle of Omaha’, legendary investor, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. known for value investing, long-term holdings, acquiring companies. Despite being much older (and wiser) and less involved in technology, Buffett’s investment legacy and diversified holdings keep him among the very richest.
A Trillion-Dollar Salary For Elon Musk?
{{/usCountry}}To be sure, all of this competition—this race to be the richest—is chump change when you consider Tesla’s proposal to give Musk a trillion-dollar pay package. Twelve percent of Tesla stock will go to him if all targets are met. That’s 423.7 million shares worth $143.5 billion at the current share price.
Musk, at present, owns 410 million worth around $139 billion, along with stakes in SpaceX, xAI and X.com (formerly Twitter) that brings his net worth to upwards of $400 billion.
The plan also sets a series of benchmarks that Musk must reach to move forward, including expanding the company’s market capitalisation to at least $8.5 trillion.
Notice how the proposed pay is linked to market capitalisation, and not actual performance. This is all about Musk being scared about being kicked out of Tesla because he only owns 13% stock amid dwindling sales, says an early investor in the company.
