Updated November 11, 2026 (ET).
Larry Ellison built Oracle into one of the world’s largest software companies. He is still its executive chairman and chief technology officer—and the company’s bet on AI infrastructure is now a test of both Oracle’s balance sheet and Ellison’s fortune.
In June 2026, after reporting fiscal 2026 results, Oracle said it expected fiscal 2027 capital spending of up to $95 billion, according to coverage of the earnings call by Reuters, as reported by Outlook Business. Chief Financial Officer Hilary Maxson said about $70 billion would be Oracle’s own capital investment, with an additional $20 billion to $25 billion expected to be repaid by customers, without a timeline for those repayments. In its June 10 news release, Oracle said it planned to raise approximately $40 billion in fiscal 2027 through a combination of debt and equity, including a previously announced $20 billion at-the-market equity issuance.
That capex outlook was still in place in September. Business Insider, reporting on the fiscal first-quarter results, said Oracle kept its full-year forecast at $90 billion to $95 billion. In its September 10 release, Oracle said it had completed the $20 billion at-the-market sale in the first quarter. At an October 28 Investor Day, the company described fiscal 2027 and 2028 as a period of peak capex and said additional capital-markets funding for the fiscal 2027–2030 investment cycle would be limited to $20 billion—expected to be split between $10 billion in equity and $10 billion in gross debt—on top of the at-the-market sale already completed, and excluding refinancing of existing debt.
The spending has also shown up in Ellison’s ranking on paper. On November 5, 2026, Forbes reported that he had fallen out of its real-time list of the world’s 10 richest people after Oracle shares dropped, with an estimated net worth of $152.5 billion as of 2 p.m. ET, behind Spanish businessman Amancio Ortega. As of November 11, Forbes’ profile of Ellison put his real-time net worth at $168.6 billion and ranked him No. 7 in the world.
Larry Ellison: Quick facts
Full name: Lawrence Joseph Ellison, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Born: August 17, 1944, in New York City (age 82 as of November 11, 2026), according to Britannica. He was raised in Chicago after being adopted by his aunt and uncle.
Known for: Cofounder of Oracle Corporation; CEO from 1977 to September 2014; now executive chairman and chief technology officer.
Education: Attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and, briefly, the University of Chicago; he did not complete a degree, according to Britannica and Forbes.
Oracle path: Cofounded Software Development Laboratories in 1977 with Bob Miner and Ed Oates; the company later became Oracle and went public in 1986.
Ownership: Forbes estimates he owns roughly 40% of Oracle.
Latest news: Oracle is in a peak period of AI-related capital spending, with a fiscal 2027 capex outlook of up to $95 billion; Ellison briefly dropped out of Forbes’ real-time top 10 in early November, then stood at No. 7 as of November 11.
How did Larry Ellison found Oracle?
Britannica says Ellison was born in New York City to a 19-year-old single mother, Florence Spellman, and was sent to Chicago at nine months after a bout of pneumonia, to be raised by her aunt and uncle, Lillian and Louis Ellison, who adopted him. He attended the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign beginning in 1962 and dropped out in 1964 shortly after Lillian’s death. He briefly attended the University of Chicago in 1966, then moved to California and worked as a computer programmer. Beginning in 1973, he worked at Ampex, where he met Oates and was supervised by Miner.
In 1977, the three formed Software Development Laboratories to do contract programming. Inspired by a research paper by Edgar F. Codd outlining a relational database model, they built a commercial product around the idea. Britannica says they received a contract from the Central Intelligence Agency to develop a database, and in 1979 the company—by then called Relational Software, Inc.—released Oracle, described as the earliest commercial relational database program to use Structured Query Language (SQL). The company was renamed Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982, after its flagship product, and went public in 1986.
Oracle’s official biography says Ellison founded the company in 1977 and served as CEO until September 2014. He has since been executive chairman and chief technology officer. Safra Catz, who Oracle said had served as CEO since 2014, was appointed executive vice chair on September 22, 2025, when the company promoted Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia to chief executive officers. Ellison remains chairman and CTO; in that announcement, he said he looked forward to “spending the coming years working side-by-side with them.”
Why does Oracle’s AI spending matter for Ellison?
Oracle’s fiscal 2026 results showed how quickly the company’s cloud-infrastructure push had already scaled. The June release reported record fiscal 2026 revenue of $67.4 billion and fiscal 2026 cloud infrastructure (IaaS) revenue of $18.1 billion, up 77% in U.S. dollars. Remaining performance obligations ended the year at $638 billion. Operating cash flow was a record $32.0 billion, while free cash flow was negative $23.7 billion as the company invested in cloud infrastructure. Oracle said it had raised $43 billion in debt and $5 billion in equity in fiscal 2026.
The next year’s spending plan is larger still. Reuters’ account of the June call, as reported by Outlook Business, put the fiscal 2027 capex outlook at up to $95 billion, above an analyst estimate of about $67.66 billion cited from LSEG. Shares fell 8.9% in extended trading after those results, Outlook Business reported. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Business Insider reported capital expenditures of $28.5 billion, up from $8.5 billion a year earlier, with the full-year $90–95 billion outlook unchanged. Oracle’s own September release said first-quarter revenue was $19.3 billion, cloud infrastructure revenue was $7.4 billion (up 121%), remaining performance obligations rose to $664 billion, operating cash flow was a record $23 billion, and free cash flow was negative $5 billion. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to total revenue of at least $90 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $8.10, a target it later reaffirmed at Investor Day.
Because Forbes estimates Ellison owns roughly 40% of Oracle, swings in the stock move his ranking quickly. Forbes reported that in September 2025 he became the second person ever estimated to be worth more than $400 billion, after an AI-driven surge in Oracle’s shares. The early-November drop below the real-time top 10 was a snapshot, not a permanent demotion: by November 11, Forbes again listed him seventh.
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Frequently asked questions about Larry Ellison
Is Larry Ellison still Oracle’s CEO?
No. Oracle says he served as CEO until September 2014 and is now executive chairman and chief technology officer. Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia have been the company’s chief executive officers since September 22, 2025.
Did Larry Ellison drop out of the world’s top 10 richest people?
Briefly, on paper. On November 5, 2026, Forbes reported that he had fallen out of its real-time top 10 after Oracle shares declined, with an estimated net worth of $152.5 billion at 2 p.m. ET. As of November 11, Forbes ranked him No. 7, at $168.6 billion. Those real-time figures move with the stock.
How much does Oracle plan to spend in fiscal 2027?
Reporting on the June 2026 earnings call said Oracle forecast capital expenditures of up to $95 billion for fiscal 2027. Business Insider reported in September that the company was still guiding to $90 billion to $95 billion. Oracle’s June news release separately said it expected to raise about $40 billion in debt and equity that year, including a $20 billion at-the-market stock sale it later said it completed in the first quarter. At its October Investor Day, Oracle said additional capital-markets funding through fiscal 2030 would be limited to $20 billion, on top of that completed sale, excluding debt refinancing.
Where is Larry Ellison from?
He was born in New York City on August 17, 1944, and was raised in Chicago by his adoptive parents, according to Britannica.
Further reading
Oracle: Fiscal 2026 and fourth-quarter results (June 10, 2026)
Oracle: Fiscal 2027 first-quarter results (September 10, 2026)
Oracle Investor Day 2026: Accelerating Value Creation (October 28, 2026)
Forbes México (from Forbes US): Ellison falls out of the top 10 (November 5, 2026)
Forbes Middle East: Ellison falls out of top 10 in billionaire rankings
Oracle: Magouyrk and Sicilia named CEOs (September 22, 2025)
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