Larry and David Ellison pursue a $108B media empire
Upon reaching his teenage years, David Ellison received a rather unique gift from his father, Larry, for his 13th birthday: a Katana stunt plane of his very own. The two had shared minimal significant moments together. With their own aircraft, the father and son found a unique opportunity to bond in the air, engaging in aerobatic flips and mastering the skies together. Currently, Larry Ellison is making efforts to assist his son in acquiring a media empire, enabling them to dominate both Hollywood and the news landscape together. The evolution of a once tenuous father-and-son relationship into a compelling business partnership stands as a noteworthy development in contemporary media. Towering behind almost every move made by David Ellison, now 42 and the chief executive of Paramount, is his confident 81-year-old father, the billionaire cofounder of the software giant Oracle. According to sources, the two have established an unconventional partnership in their quest for significant media agreements.
This summer, they acquired Paramount, and now they are pursuing Warner Bros. Discovery with a $108 billion hostile bid. On Monday, David Ellison emphasized the pivotal role of his father in this bid, informing Warner Bros. that Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $40.4 billion for Paramount’s offer. David Ellison described the deal as something that “we” — or “the Ellison family” — were pursuing, and both have attempted to exert pressure on Warner executives. Father and son engage in conversation approximately five times a week, discussing topics such as their tennis matches and their collaborative philanthropic efforts at the University of Oxford, though deal-making now dominates their discussions. According to a source, David Ellison consults extensively with his father on every deal-related decision.
They also weigh the complexities of engaging with President Trump, whose administration holds authority over approval of major acquisitions. Larry Ellison has emerged as a key advocate to the president, arguing that Paramount, rather than Netflix, should gain control of Warner Bros., according to sources, while Trump has said he will be “involved” in any approval decision. For decades a towering figure in Silicon Valley, Ellison co-founded Oracle fifty years ago and built a fortune estimated at $252 billion. A person close to the process said that despite his stature, he has shown deference to his son during this year’s negotiations, often referencing his own hostile acquisition experience from the 1990s and 2000s—periods his son observed closely while interning at Oracle.
If the Ellisons succeed, their empire could span CNN, Warner Bros., and TikTok, potentially placing them alongside the Murdochs in media influence. Trump has privately said Larry Ellison assured him CBS News would become more conservative, according to sources, a claim surfacing amid internal CBS controversy over editorial decisions. David Ellison’s upbringing in Silicon Valley was largely overseen by his father’s third wife, Barbara, following their 1986 divorce, and Ellison was not deeply involved in his son’s early life. Their bond strengthened after shared flight lessons, and later as David pursued acting, then shifted to business with Skydance, backed financially by his father. Initially skeptical, Larry Ellison later came to view his son as one of the sharpest minds in business, quietly investing early in Skydance and becoming its largest shareholder, as their relationship evolved into one of trust, alignment, and shared ambition.
