MIND-BOGGLING

Musk’s Status as World’s Richest Man Threatened by Rival’s $70B Fortune Spike

The battle for incomprehensible wealth just got more incomprehensible.

Elon Musk is looking over his shoulder as his more than 300-day streak as the world’s richest person threatens to come to a close. Larry Ellison, the 81-year-old chairman and chief technology officer of database software company Oracle, is snapping at his heels as usage of AI tools soars and tech companies scramble for capacity, bumping his own wealth $70 billion in the quarterly results. Oracle has had a wild year, per Bloomberg, closing 45 percent up on the year to Tuesday. Ellison saw his total value swell to $364 billion, within touching distance of Musk’s $384 billion. The SpaceX chief, meanwhile, is hurt by an ignominious exit from his explosive foray into politics, and his wealth—closely tied to the fortunes of Tesla—has declined 14 percent on the year. In the race for unprecedented wealth, however, Musk may have a trick up his sleeve, after Tesla board members offered him a roadmap to a $1 trillion payout in 10 years, if he’s able to meet specific criteria at the helm of the company, with the board believing incentivizing him is key to the company’s success.