Ellison the Almighty, 81, sets his sights on Oxford

“God doesn’t think he’s Larry Ellison” is the punchline to an old Silicon Valley gag about the difference between the creator of the universe and the creator of the software company Oracle. Ellison does seem to have been around for an eternity. He co-founded the database software company in 1977, took it public in 1985 and has been a powerful presence ever since. This week he (briefly) overtook Elon Musk as the world’s richest man after Oracle shares soared, increasing his personal wealth by over $100bn in a day to $393bn.

The 81-year-old, who has been spending time in Oxfordshire, where he can live more anonymously, is famously competitive. A timely move into supplying AI infrastructure to industry giants is behind his recent wealth surge, as is his retention of a virtually controlling stake in the business. He is living proof that tech is not just a young person’s game.

Ellison is close to Donald Trump, who is considering him as a buyer of TikTok. With his son David, he is building a media empire that may have worrying implications for news. David’s company, Skydance, having last month bought Paramount, owner of CBS, is now reportedly pursuing Warner Brothers, owner of CNN.

Over here, Ellison says he is “concentrating my resources” on the Ellison Institute of Technology in Oxford, a health tech business with close ties to the university. He has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Things may look different if what some say is an AI bubble bursts. But for now, perhaps the real answer to the gag should be “Ellison’s got more money.”

Photograph by Travelpix Ltd