Quick overview

---

A historic decline in Oracle shares caused Larry Ellison’s net worth to fall by $24.9 billion three months after he momentarily became the world’s richest person.

Ellison, 81, went from second to third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as a result. Ellison’s paper losses coincide with the billionaire’s pledge to support his son, David, in his hostile $108 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Following Ellison’s Paramount Skydance Corp., lost to Netflix Inc.

This week, it went straight to shareholders with a $ 30-per-share all-cash bid in the competition to acquire media brands like Warner Bros., HBO, and CNN. The Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners backed the bid with $41 billion in new equity.

Ellison still has enough money to support a possible Warner Bros. purchase numerous times over if Paramount ultimately prevails, but if Ellison needs to provide money to seal the deal, the composition of the most recent bid may cause problems. According to Bloomberg’s wealth index, he currently has cash and equivalents worth about $34.8 billion, mostly from previous Oracle stock sales.

It’s unclear how much of that amount he can use right away, though, as some of it is invested in less liquid assets like real estate and art. Furthermore, as of September, Ellison had secured personal debts, pledging roughly 30% of his Oracle stake.