[Super Rich] "Thank you AI"... Oracle Founder Hits 630 Billion Won 'Jackpot' with Stock Options

Oracle Soars 47.5% This Year Amid Generative AI Boom
Larry Ellison Cashes In 630 Billion KRW Exercising Stock Options
Surpasses Bill Gates to Become 4th Richest Person Worldwide

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Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, exercised stock options and pocketed $482 million (about 630 billion KRW). With the surge in Oracle’s stock price driven by the ChatGPT-led generative artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Ellison surpassed Microsoft (MS) Chairman Bill Gates earlier this month to become the fourth richest person in the world.

According to Bloomberg on the 24th, Ellison exercised stock options for 5.25 million Oracle shares this week.

Stock options give company employees the right to purchase a certain number of shares at a predetermined price. Employees can exercise stock options to buy shares cheaply and then sell them on the market to gain capital gains.

Between the 20th and 22nd, Ellison purchased 5.25 million Oracle shares at a conversion price of $30.11 per share. During the same period, he sold the 5.25 million Oracle shares acquired through stock options at an average price of $122 per share. As a result, Ellison earned capital gains amounting to $482 million in just three days.

Ellison’s exercise of stock options took place amid a recent surge in Oracle’s stock price driven by the AI boom.

Oracle’s stock price hit an all-time high of $127.54 on the 15th. Two days earlier, on the 13th, Oracle announced that its cloud revenue increased by 54% in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year and that rapid growth is expected in the next fiscal year, which caused the stock price to jump. This was due to the expanding demand for Oracle’s cloud services driven by the spread of generative AI, which requires overwhelming computing power. Oracle’s stock price has risen by 47.5% so far this year.

The surge in Oracle’s stock price has significantly increased Ellison’s wealth. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ellison’s net worth has increased by about 46% this year to $134 billion (about 175 trillion KRW). Earlier this month, he surpassed Bill Gates, MS Chairman (net worth $132 billion as of the 22nd), to rank fourth among the world’s wealthiest individuals. Of Ellison’s $134 billion fortune, Oracle shares account for $101 billion, making up the majority. He also holds about $12 billion worth of Tesla shares, led by the world’s richest person, Elon Musk.

As one of the top billionaires, Ellison is also known for his luxurious lifestyle. He owns a private jet, an America’s Cup yacht racing team, and Laani Island, the sixth largest island in Hawaii. Since 2003, he has sold about $12 billion worth of Oracle shares to support his lavish lifestyle. He also has a girlfriend 47 years his junior. Born in 1944 and 80 years old by Korean age this year, Ellison has been dating Nikita Kahn, a 33-year-old Ukrainian model and actress, for 13 years.

Meanwhile, Ellison is not the only billionaire who has made huge money from the AI boom. Jensen Huang, founder of Nvidia, has seen his wealth nearly triple this year, increasing his net worth to $38.5 billion. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, reportedly increased their net worth by $18 billion after the Google Developer Conference in May, according to Bloomberg.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.