Larry Ellison has seen a dramatic drop in his net worth, losing $24.9 billion after Oracle Corp. shares fell sharply, following a surge in spending on artificial intelligence data centres. The 81-year-old tech executive slipped to third place on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s richest.

The decline came as Oracle reported earnings that exposed a sharp rise in capital expenditures for artificial intelligence data centres. While the company continues to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, investors are concerned that the spending is not generating revenue quickly enough. An Oracle spokesperson declined to comment.

The timing of Ellison’s paper losses overlaps with his support for his son David Ellison’s high-profile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Following a failed acquisition attempt by Larry Ellison’s Paramount Skydance Corp., Paramount launched an all-cash offer of 30 US dollars per share this week. The deal, financed with 41 billion US dollars in new equity from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, is not final, hinting at a potentially prolonged negotiation with Netflix Inc.