What do two of the world's richest billionaires have in common? They both own huge stakes in the same S&P 500 stock: Tesla.
Both Elon Musk and Larry Ellison are now among the top four richest people in the world, says the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index. Musk is No. 1 and Ellison is No. 4. And both can largely thank their Tesla stock for that. Musk is the largest owner of Tesla stock. And Ellison, founder of Oracle, is the seventh largest Tesla owner ahead of even mutual fund giant Fidelity.
Anyone riding Tesla stock's powerful 120% gain this year is profiting handsomely. But these S&P 500 company founders are living testaments to the power of placing big bets on top-performing stocks.
"To date Tesla's stock has been valued as a disruptive technology player that is transforming (electric vehicle) adoption globally in this green tidal wave," said Wedbush's Dan Ives. "However, Musk & Co. have built an EV castle with its supercharger network, battery technology ... and software ecosystem that is unmatched globally compared to any other auto player in our opinion."
Big Bets On Tesla Stock Pay Off Big
It's not surprising to see Musk such a large holder of Tesla stock. He's considered the person to make the company what it is now. What is notable, though, is the size of the position he's maintained over the 20 years since its founding.
Musk still owns more than 411 million shares of Tesla. That amounts to nearly 13% of the company — more than anyone else, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith. And that's paying off handsomely this year. The value of Musk's stake has risen $60.6 billion just this year.
The massive size of Musk's remaining ownership stake is noteworthy, including in comparison to other high-tech founders who have lightened up.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, only owns 0.5% of that company now. And even Jeff Bezos' stake in Amazon.com has whittled down to just 9.7% (he's still the No. 1 holder of the stock). And Alphabet co-founder Larry Page is only the No. 3 largest holder with 6.1% of the Google parent's stock.
Ellison's Big Bets Pay Off
Ellison, though, seems to understand not only the power of Tesla, but also concentrated positions.
His 45 million shares of Tesla added $6.6 billion in wealth to his portfolio this year alone. Ellison's position is more than 700% larger than that of Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, although her name is more closely linked to Tesla than his is.
And Tesla isn't even the very top reason Ellison is back in the top five richest people in the world. For that, he can thank his holding onto a staggering 42% of Oracle, the tech company he founded nearly five decades ago.
The value of his 1.15 billion Oracle shares has risen more than $46 billion this year. Shares of Oracle are up nearly 50% this year on the company's inroads in AI software and services. No investor comes anywhere near his ownership position in the company. Even ETF giant Vanguard only owns 5% of the company and is a distant second to Ellison.
Diversification can certainly help cushion portfolios in tough markets. But as Musk and Ellison prove, when an S&P 500 stock is rocking, you want to own as much as possible.
Tesla Titans
Largest owners of Tesla shares
| Holder | Shares held (millions) | % Of Co. |
|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk | 411.1 | 12.9% |
| Vanguard Group | 220.6 | 6.9 |
| BlackRock | 178.7 | 5.6 |
| State Street Global Advisors | 99.7 | 3.1 |
| Capital Research and Management | 53.1 | 1.6 |
| Geode Capital Management | 50.0 | 1.5 |
| Lawrence J. Ellison | 45.0 | 1.4 |
| FMR | 29.4 | 0.9 |
| Norges Bank Investment Management | 28.1 | 0.8 |
| Northern Trust Global Investments | 27.1 | 0.8 |
Sources: IBD, S&P Global Market Intelligence
Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz
