The optimism around artificial intelligence boosted both Oracle Corp.’s stock — and founder Larry Ellison’s net worth — to record highs on Monday.
Ellison, 78, passed Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to become the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $129.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s the first time that Ellison is richer than Gates, whose net worth is currently $129.1 billion, and the first time Ellison has ranked higher than fifth on the list, according to Bloomberg data.
Investor interest in AI and a broader tech rally have been a tailwind to Oracle’s stock, which has climbed 42% this year and reached a record high of $116.43 on Monday ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings. Wolfe Research upgraded it to outperform on Monday, citing Oracle’s plans to develop its own partnership with startup Cohere to challenge the alliance between Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI.
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