There's a new sheriff in town. Larry Ellison, Michigan football’s most prominent booster, has leapfrogged Elon Musk to claim the title of the richest person in the world, per CNN. Bloomberg reports that Ellison’s net worth skyrocketed to $393 billion, a $101 billion surge in a single day after Oracle’s earnings blew past Wall Street expectations. Musk now trails at $385 billion.

Oracle’s stock erupted 41 percent on Wednesday, its biggest one-day climb since 1992, fueled by booming demand for AI infrastructure. CEO Safra Catz revealed the company locked down four multibillion-dollar contracts with more expected soon, signaling that Oracle’s cloud services and database platforms are fast becoming the backbone of AI computing.

Industry analysts didn’t hold back. Ben Reitzes of Melius Research called Oracle’s $455 billion backlog of AI services “staggering” and predicted the momentum will reshape the company’s future. Oracle also recently inked a deal to provide 4.5 gigawatts of electricity to OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, ensuring it stays at the center of the AI race.

From Silicon Valley to Ann Arbor

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Ellison, Oracle’s largest individual shareholder, isn’t a Michigan alum himself. But his wife Jolin proudly holds that distinction, and the couple has become instrumental to the Wolverines’ recruiting machine. Their influence was most visible when Michigan stunned the college football world by flipping Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2025 class.

Underwood, a Belleville native, originally committed to LSU before reversing course in November 2024. The move became infamous as the priciest recruiting battle in history, with Michigan’s NIL collective Champions Circle reportedly offering him a four-year package worth up to $12 million. That investment is already paying off, as Underwood begins his freshman season as the Wolverines’ starting quarterback.

The young star’s profile has exploded as well. On3 values his NIL worth at $3 million annually, with endorsement deals from Celsius, Beats by Dre and Hollister stacking onto his Michigan spotlight. For Ellison, the rise of Oracle and Michigan football seem to be moving in parallel, powered by big bets and even bigger payoffs.

With Oracle now approaching a trillion-dollar market value, and Ellison sitting atop the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his story bridges Silicon Valley’s AI boom with Ann Arbor’s gridiron dreams. If Oracle’s rally continues, Michigan’s most powerful backer may be rewriting not just the tech world’s record books but college football’s too.