I just realized that Larry Ellison, at 81 years old, apparently isn't slowing down – quite the opposite. In September 2025, this tech veteran suddenly became the richest person in the world. His fortune skyrocketed by over 100 billion dollars in a single day. Elon Musk had to step down. The trigger was Oracle's announcement of contracts worth several hundred billion dollars, including a five-year partnership with OpenAI worth 300 billion. The stock jumped over 40 percent – the biggest daily increase since 1992.

What fascinates me about this? Ellison was not initially a leader in cloud computing. Amazon and Microsoft were faster. But Oracle maintained its database expertise and close customer relationships. In summer 2025, the company massively shifted into AI infrastructure – thousands of employees were laid off in traditional areas, while investments in data centers exploded. Oracle became the "late comeback star" of the AI era.

The story behind it is even wilder. Ellison was born in 1944 in the Bronx, abandoned by his 19-year-old mother, raised by his aunt in Chicago. His adoptive parents had little money. He dropped out of college – twice. Then he ended up in Berkeley, California, working at Ampex. There, he designed a database system called "Oracle" for the CIA. In 1977, the then 32-year-old founded Software Development Laboratories with two colleagues and just 2,000 dollars. They took the CIA code name directly as the product name.

Ellison was not the inventor of database technology, but he recognized its commercial value earlier than others and bet everything on it. In 1986, Oracle went public on NASDAQ. Over four decades, he led the company through ups and downs – but always remained the driving force.

Privately, this man is a mixture of contradictions. He owns 98 percent of the Hawaiian island Lanai, several luxury villas, some of the largest yachts in the world. In 1992, he narrowly escaped death while surfing – but he didn't stop. In 2013, his supported Oracle Team USA won the America's Cup after a legendary comeback. Tennis is his other obsession – he made the Indian Wells tournament the "fifth Grand Slam."

And then there's his private life. Four marriages, numerous affairs. In 2024, he married Jolin Zhu, a Chinese-born woman 47 years younger. The news came from a university document from the University of Michigan, mentioning a donation from "Larry Ellison and his wife Jolin." Online, people joke that Ellison loves both waves and romantic adventures equally. His Larry Ellison spouse is now Jolin Zhu – and the public can't get enough of this unexpected turn.

His discipline is impressive. In the 90s and 2000s, he trained several hours daily, drank only water and green tea, ate consciously. At 81, he appears "twenty years younger than his peers."

He is also politically active. He funded Rubio's presidential campaign in 2015, donated millions to super PACs. In January 2026, he appeared together with Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman at the White House to announce a 500-billion-dollar AI data center network. Oracle technology plays a central role.

Charity? In 2010, he signed the "Giving Pledge" and promised to donate at least 95 percent of his wealth. But he prefers not to work with other philanthropists. In 2016, he donated 200 million to the University of Southern California for a cancer research center. Now, he invests in the Ellison Institute of Technology together with Oxford – focused on medicine, agriculture, and clean energy.

This man embodies the old Silicon Valley playboys – stubborn, combative, uncompromising. The throne of the richest person could change hands again soon, but for now, Ellison shows the world: The legend of the old tech titans is far from over.