Warren Buffett now world’s eighth-richest man as Larry Ellison drops out of top 10

Ellison’s estimated net worth dropped by roughly $11 billion to $153.3 billion after Oracle shares tumbled about 7% on Thursday, pushing him down to 11th place on the list from eighth at the start of November.

Buffett also saw his wealth shrink, but by a more moderate $2.4 billion to $162.2 billion. He had previously held the 10th spot, according to Forbes.

Ellison was among the world’s top billionaires who collectively lost more than $130 billion in wealth on Thursday amid a US tech stock sell-off.

The market rout began shortly after trading opened on the New York Stock Exchange and intensified throughout the session, dragging down stocks from chipmakers such as Nvidia to defensive stocks like Walmart, Bloomberg reported.

But companies tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom bore some of the heaviest losses.

Shares of server manufacturer Dell Technologies, for instance, fell by double digits, reducing CEO Michael Dell’s wealth by $22 billion. Nvidia dropped more than 9%, wiping $15.8 billion from the fortune of its CEO Jensen Huang.

Shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla plunged 11.5% to their lowest level since August, wiping $79.4 billion from CEO Elon Musk’s net worth, though he remains the world’s richest man.

Most of the world’s 10 richest people made their fortunes in tech, except for Buffett and Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, the parent company of fashion retailer Zara.

Buffett’s wealth stems from shares he owns in conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. In September, he stepped down as Berkshire’s chairman after more than six decades building the business, with his oldest son Howard taking over as non-executive ‌chairman, Reuters reported.

The legendary investor had avoided tech stocks over much of his career, though Berkshire has since invested in several major firms like IBM, Apple and, more recently, Alphabet.