Oracle stock plunge wipes $24.9 billion from founder’s wealth

Larry Ellison has seen his fortune drop by $24.9 billion after a steep decline in Oracle Corp. shares, just three months after briefly becoming the world’s richest person.

Oracle’s stock fell 11% on December 11, after the company reported earnings showing a sharp rise in capital spending for AI-focused data centers—fueling investor concerns that the investments are not yet translating into revenue, Bloomberg reports. 

The drop pushed the 81-year-old Oracle co-founder down to third place on Bloomberg’s global wealth ranking.

The timing is significant: Ellison has recently committed to financially backing his son David Ellison’s $108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Following the failure of Paramount Skydance Corp.—the Ellison family’s media venture—to outbid Netflix for control of key media assets such as Warner Brothers, HBO and CNN, the company went directly to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders this week with a $30-per-share all-cash offer. The bid is supported by $41 billion in new equity guaranteed by the Ellison family and investment firm RedBird Capital Partners.

Paramount has signaled that the $30 offer is not its final price, raising the prospect of an extended bidding war with Netflix.

Despite the latest losses, Ellison’s Oracle holdings remain at approximately $202.8 billion. He continues to sell shares only sparingly, and has not sold more than $1 billion worth of stock in any year since 2010, according to Bloomberg data.

By Sabina Mammadli