Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, and his son David Ellison have moved aggressively into the media world this year, pursuing deals that could give them control of some of the largest entertainment and news organisations in the United States. Their moves range from involvement in TikTok arrangements to David Ellison’s recent acquisition of Paramount and a potential bid for Warner Bros Discovery.
Larry Ellison, who helped build Oracle from 1977 into a dominant database and cloud company, has seen his wealth swell as Oracle has taken on a central role in infrastructure for artificial intelligence. His roughly 40% stake in Oracle underpins a personal fortune that has risen to about $370bn, briefly placing him at the top of global rankings of the richest people.
Historically, Larry Ellison’s public interests have included yachting, tennis, anti-ageing research and owning an island in Hawaii. But his and Oracle’s recent involvement with TikTok — initially as a host for the app’s US user data — has broadened their footprint in digital media. Under a White House-brokered arrangement, Oracle is positioned to become an investor and take on responsibilities tied to retraining the algorithm that serves up what we see.
David Ellison founded the production company Skydance in 2010 and has since expanded into films, television, gaming and sports. Skydance credits include titles and franchises that generated mainstream recognition beyond his father’s corporate profile. His recent takeover of Paramount, backed by his father’s support, transformed him into the chief executive of a global media business with more than 18,000 employees and ownership of major news outlets, including CBS.
The acquisition required approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates US broadcasting and is led by Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee described in news coverage as closely aligned with the administration.
Reports say the Ellisons are preparing a bid for Warner Bros Discovery, a company that controls extensive entertainment properties such as HBO, CNN and major film and television libraries. Such a merger would require clearance from competition regulators and could create a media entity with scale comparable to other major studios and streaming platforms.
Larry Ellison’s relationship with President Donald Trump has been highly visible. The president has praised Larry Ellison as “an amazing man and amazing business person” and described him as “sort of CEO of everything”. Those ties have fed increased attention as the family pursues media transactions.
House Democrats announced an investigation into whether commitments were made to President Trump to secure approvals for the Paramount-Skydance deal, examining whether any arrangements might violate anti-bribery laws. They pointed to a $16m payment that Paramount agreed to make to settle a lawsuit with Mr Trump as part of the broader context around the transaction.
Mr Trump has also said “the new owners” had promised him billions worth of free advertising or programming.
Critics across the political spectrum have voiced concern about a single family controlling entertainment, social media influence and major news outlets. The media watchdog FAIR warned: “The Ellison duo taking over both CBS and CNN, as well as controlling a major social media network like TikTok, would be dangerous for democracy. And given their closeness to the Trump regime, that seems to be the point.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren urged regulators to block any tie-up between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, calling it a “dangerous concentration of power”. Other observers described the proposed TikTok arrangements as unfairly advantageous to allies of the president.
Since the sale, Skydance has made changes at CBS, some of which mirror conditions set by the FCC during approval. Those changes include appointing a conservative watchdog to handle complaints of bias and a policy that CBS’s political programme Face the Nation will air live or run unedited interviews.
Rodney Benson, a media professor at New York University, said: “These actions are in line with what the White House has made clear that they want so I think this is really concerning.”
David Ellison, speaking after the merger and noting past political giving that included donations to Democrats, said he sought to avoid being tied to one side of the political spectrum. He told reporters: “We’re not going to politicise anything today.” According to media coverage, he also said: “We’re an entertainment company first, and I genuinely believe if you’re breathing, you’re our audience. We want to be in the business of speaking to everybody.”
Gerry Cardinale, a Skydance partner and co-investor in the Paramount deal, dismissed the notion that ownership would be used to manipulate news coverage: “The kernel of the entire investment thesis is independence and objectivity. If you can’t get your head around that, don’t buy it.” He added: “There’s no way we’re going to try to influence it.”
Wall Street analysts have largely welcomed the idea of combining major studios and libraries, arguing that scale and content breadth are valuable in competition with the likes of Disney and Netflix. Some note that David Ellison’s background as a content creator and studio executive distinguishes this approach from other billionaire media purchases treated as side projects.
Still, several analysts believe news divisions represent a small portion of the overall business and may not be the Ellisons’ primary objective. Ric Prentiss of Raymond James said: “I don’t view this as something that says ‘I want to get bigger into news’… I think this is something that says ‘I want to create content’… I don’t think news is a strong part of it.”
Others argue the period of receptiveness in Washington may be finite. Paul Hardart of New York University’s Stern School of Business asked, “Who knows how long they will have the administration’s ear?” Observers note past examples, such as Elon Musk’s fraught relationship with the administration, as cautionary tales.
Read more on The Global Herald
