A new richest man in the world?

Hello again, my friend,

Yesterday, Oracle announced half a trillion dollars worth of booked orders for cloud infrastructure systems, (total value, not single day revenue), which boosted their stock by roughly 40% in one day. One of the biggest single day increases since the early 90s.

Now, the company is valued just under a trillion dollars. Larry Ellison, the co-founder and face of the business, could soon become the richest man in the world, potentially surpassing Elon Musk.

But who is this 81 year old billionaire, how did he get here, and where does half a billion dollars worth of orders suddenly come from?

Let’s get into it.

Note: there will be no advisement today. Instead, I’ve included a personal message about Charlie Kirk at the end of this email.

I researched this guy and could not believe some of what I found.

Larry dropped out of college twice, has been married five times, his latest wife is 47 years younger than him, and he is in incredible shape for an 81 year old. I couldn’t believe he was 81. All of this while building Oracle into what may soon be a trillion dollar company.

He has a line of credit for ten billion dollars. And regularly maxes it out on “personal shopping.”

He hired people to rummage through Microsoft’s trash as part of an anti-trust trial. He called it a public service.

In fact, he had the most bitter rivalry with Microsoft that he’d gather managers and executives into boardrooms and present slides to hype them up against their biggest competitor. He often talked smack about Bill Gates and Microsoft’s practices.

Absolute insane story. I would say ‘goals,’ but I don’t want to be divorced so many times. Either way, what an incredible life.

But how do we reach the point where he may actually surpass Elon as the richest man alive?

The reason why Oracle’s stock shot up about 40% in a day was largely due to those contracts for computing infrastructure. Who ordered them? The world’s AI companies, and they likely chose Oracle over Amazon, the next biggest competitor (Bezos must be pissed). Ironically, Amazon has purchased these services from Oracle as well.

These contracts are also not one and done. Oracle’s revenue will hit at least $144B over the next four years.

But what makes this more interesting is how all of this is concentrated on a single company, and in my opinion, creates potential issues. Not just because of “what happens when Oracle goes down, does the world end,” but also because of the intentions behind it.

What happens if (or when) the rules eventually get re-written to ensure no one can compete with Oracle, or these AI giants? Where I live, for example, the major insurance company has no major competition. You know what that means for our car insurance? Our rates are insanely high.

I love Larry Ellison’s story and to see a business succeed. I’m also wary of what happens when a single node in the system achieves so much power. The thing is, while competition is a good thing, I find myself accepting that this kind of a pseudo monopoly is “okay” for now, as the AI race reaches its tipping point.

AI companies are not slowing down. All of this computing power and storage will be put to use for something, and it’s not just ChatGPT writing your emails. I haven’t written an update on the state of AI in some time, but I really should.

Some estimates claim that AI will be smarter than any single human next year. Looking at the math and the growth of this technology, I’d wonder when AI might surpass the collective intelligence of the human race overall.

And that’s what I love and hate about the incredible growth-rate of this powerful technology. This may age poorly, but it’s the truth.

On one hand, I want to see what the tech can do, and use the tech for my own selfish purposes.

On the other, I worry about the day the worst-case scenario (like in the Terminator movies), comes true. The odds of that worst case scenario are above zero, which makes it more terrifying.

It’s all the more reason for us to start taking AI much more seriously. In our work and daily lives.

People are creating entire, full production commercials without using a single camera. It’s all AI. Writing, art, music, all of these industries are being disrupted. I’ll go into the layoffs and sweeping changes in another post. But it’s all to say one thing.

Oracle suddenly becoming (almost) a trillion dollar company because of deals with AI companies, tells us about the direction of AI. It’s only going up. Better to hop on the train now than let it pass us by.

Thanks again for reading!

There will be no advertisement today.

Just one last message that is on a completely separate, and personal note.

I want to take a moment to talk about Charlie Kirk. A husband, father of two, and one of the most prominent conservative voices in America, if not the world.

He spoke at college campuses, in favour of conservative values, making points that were completely counter to what most students believed. He did it for years, and the crowds grew until he could fill stadiums. If you look up the videos, you’ll see.

He endured the loud boos, ridicule, and extreme hate. He was always in favour of open debate, would talk to anyone, and never advocated for violence. Many disagreed with him, but in time Charlie became one of the most popular and powerful voices in America.

I often disagreed with what he had to say, but I always admired how he was never afraid to voice his beliefs, no matter what people may think. He was so sharp, articulate, brave, and had the courage to say what others were afraid to say.

Yesterday, Charlie was shot and killed by a sniper while speaking on a college campus in Utah.

He was just 31.

Political violence is unacceptable. In a free society. You may not agree with what someone says, but no one should be assassinated for peacefully expressing them. We can all agree on this.

I believe this moment will serve as a wake up call for a generation that will carry forward Charlie’s legacy.

If you do one thing today, reach out to your loved ones, and tell them you love them.

My thoughts go out to Charlie’s wife and children. May he rest in peace.