Elon Musk's best friend is about to take over the world's number 1 billionaire

(Dan Tri) - A silent "coup" is brewing. Larry Ellison - Elon Musk's close friend - has just pocketed nearly 30 billion USD in 24 hours and could usurp the world's number 1 billionaire position in just a few days.

Few people know that the man who is threatening to usurp Elon Musk's position as the richest man on the planet is actually his best friend and one of his most ardent supporters.

Larry Ellison, the 80-year-old co-founder of tech giant Oracle, is not only a major investor in Tesla but also served on the electric carmaker's board of directors from 2018 to 2022. He has repeatedly publicly defended Musk against controversies.

But in business, there are no eternal friendships, only interests and numbers that don't lie. And the recent numbers are telling a dramatic story. As of early August, the race for wealth between the two friends is hotter than ever. A financial earthquake is taking place: while Musk is bleeding money, Ellison is experiencing an extraordinary boom.

Bloomberg Billionaire Index statistics show that Elon Musk's assets have plummeted, "evaporating" about 80 billion USD this year alone, pushing his net worth down to about 352 billion USD from a peak of more than 450 billion USD.

Larry Ellison, on the other hand, has made a spectacular sprint. His fortune has skyrocketed by more than $102 billion since the beginning of the year, climbing to the second position on the list of the richest people on the planet. Ellison even earned $28.4 billion in just 24 hours - an unbelievable number.

The gap between the two is now just $60 billion. Another slip from Tesla, and another surge from Oracle, and the world will have a new king.

If Tesla billionaire's fortune drops another $60 billion, Elon Musk will lose his title as the richest person on the planet to Oracle's Larry Ellison (Photo: Getty).

2 storms in opposite directions: Tesla plummets, Oracle soars

The reason for this potential change of throne comes from the two completely opposite trajectories of two technology empires.

Elon Musk's fortune is tied to his beloved Tesla, where he owns a 13% stake. But his beloved company is giving him headaches. 2025 is shaping up to be a rocky year for the electric carmaker. Second-quarter revenue fell by double digits year-over-year, missing Wall Street expectations, and the stock has lost more than 20% of its value year-to-date.

Musk’s distractions are also a factor. His controversial role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appears to be hurting his bottom line more than expected. Despite shareholders practically begging Musk to return to focusing solely on Tesla, even offering him a massive $29 billion compensation package to “keep” him, the return has yet to yield the desired results.

Musk’s other companies are also facing challenges. Artificial intelligence startup xAI is reportedly burning through $1 billion a month, while The Boring Company’s valuation has also dropped. Musk’s public image is also in decline, with only 30% of voters having a positive view of him in a June survey.

While Musk battles his storm, Ellison is riding an AI tsunami. His Oracle empire is thriving thanks to its strategic focus on AI and cloud computing. Oracle shares have surged more than 50% since the beginning of the year, directly pushing Ellison’s fortune to new heights.

At the age of 80, with 41% of the shares in the company he founded in 1977, Ellison still proves his class as a technology legend, truly "the older the ginger, the spicier it is". In the role of Chairman and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), he confidently declared in a meeting: "Oracle is thriving in this new era of cloud computing. We will become the number one cloud database company. We are just getting started".

Oracle's rise is no accident. It reflects a major shift in the tech market, where AI is becoming a major growth driver, and companies that have embraced the trend are reaping the rewards.

The Race for Wealth: Not Just a Two-Man Affair

The world’s richest man is no longer the sole preserve of Elon Musk and Larry Ellison. The 2025 billionaires’ ranking shows a starkly different picture, with tech titans accelerating or losing steam in completely different directions.

Not everyone is as devastated as Musk. The AI wave is helping other tech billionaires reap huge rewards: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg added $56 billion to his fortune, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang pocketed $37 billion. That proves that Larry Ellison’s spectacular breakthrough is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a new wave of wealth that is sweeping across Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, many billionaires are losing their edge. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos lost $1.7 billion. Bill Gates saw his fortune drop by $36 billion, largely due to his accelerated philanthropic commitments. These figures show that the financial fortunes of the super-rich are not only driven by individuals, but also largely dependent on technological trends and corporate strategies.

The tide is turning so quickly that even insiders are having trouble predicting it. Elon Musk, the icon of the tech age, is facing an unprecedented challenge: being surpassed by a close friend. Meanwhile, Larry Ellison, at age 80, is entering the most glorious chapter of his career.

This race is not just about numbers, but also a battle between courage, ambition and the times. If the current trend continues, the world will most likely witness a breathtaking "usurpation" where the winner is none other than the old friend who is silently calculating every move.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/ban-than-elon-musk-sap-soan-ngoi-ty-phu-so-1-the-gioi-20250805004352663.htm