Larry Ellison, the world’s fourth richest person, exercised expiring options and sold US$640-million of Oracle shares this week after the company’s stock surged to a record.
Ellison, 78, offloaded 5.25 million shares from 20-22 June at an average price of about $122, according to a filing late Thursday. During that same period, he also exercised stock options at a conversion price of $30.11 that granted him 5.25 million shares.
The vast gap between the strike price and the current value of the Austin-based company’s shares means Ellison gained about $482-million on the transactions.
The moves come after Oracle’s shares reached an all-time high of $127.54 on 15 June. Two days earlier, Oracle reported that cloud sales gained 54% in the fiscal fourth quarter, and said the business will continue its rapid growth in the coming fiscal year.
A representative for Ellison didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment sent outside of business hours.
Investor interest in artificial intelligence and a broader tech rally have boosted both Oracle stock and Ellison’s net worth. Earlier in June, Ellison surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates for the first time ever. His net worth was $134.2-billion as of Thursday’s market close, up about 46% for the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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Most of Ellison’s fortune comes from $101-billion in Oracle shares, while he also has a nearly $12-billion stake in Elon Musk’s Tesla. He’s sold more than $12-billion of Oracle stock since 2003 and is known to use that money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including private planes, America’s Cup sailing teams and owning the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
Ellison is one of several tech billionaires who have seen their fortunes rise as interest in AI grows. Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang’s net worth has nearly tripled this year to $38.5-billion. In their best week since 2021, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin added $18-billion to their collective wealth after the company’s developer conference in May. That same week, Brin gave roughly $600-million of his shares to an unknown entity. — Biz Carson, (c) 2023 Bloomberg LP
