Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, has surpassed Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world. As of Wednesday morning, Ellison's net worth reached nearly $400 billion, following a significant surge in Oracle's stock, which rose more than 40% in a single day. This remarkable increase in wealth is attributed to Oracle's announcement of higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and a substantial backlog of cloud services contracts.

Ellison, who is 81 years old, is Oracle's largest individual shareholder. His wealth now stands at approximately $393 billion, while Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has a fortune estimated at around $385 billion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index tracks these figures, highlighting the rapid changes in the rankings of the world's wealthiest individuals.

The surge in Oracle's stock was driven by the company's reported backlog of over $450 billion in cloud services and multibillion-dollar contracts with major players in artificial intelligence, including Nvidia and OpenAI. Oracle CEO Safra Catz stated, "We signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three different customers in Q1." Catz also projected that Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue could grow significantly in the coming years, reaching $18 billion this fiscal year and potentially exceeding $144 billion over the next four years.

Ellison's rise in wealth is not only linked to Oracle's performance but also to his family's expanding business interests. Recently, his son, David Ellison, completed an $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, which includes CBS and MTV. This deal was partially financed by $6 billion from the Ellison family fortune.

In addition to his business ventures, Larry Ellison has been involved in politics, supporting Republican candidates and initiatives. He has previously donated millions to political organizations, including those backing Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott's recent bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

As Ellison's wealth continues to grow, he remains a significant figure in the technology sector, having co-founded Oracle over 40 years ago. The company's market value is approaching $1 trillion, reflecting its strong position in the tech industry.