Father-Son Ellison Duo Are Aiming to Reshape the Media

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, 42, is leading a $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, but it's his 81-year-old father—Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest men—who's anchoring the effort. On Monday, David Ellison told Warner Bros. that his father personally guaranteed $40.4 billion of the financing behind Paramount's offer, per the New York Times. The pair already pulled off the summer takeover of Paramount, and people familiar with their talks say they now function as a kind of two-man deal machine, speaking several times a week and coordinating on strategy.

CNBC notes that Paramount's previous three bids for WBD earlier this year were rejected. If this one is successful, however, the Ellisons' holdings could stretch from CNN and Warner Bros. to TikTok and CBS, elevating them into Murdoch-level territory in the news and entertainment arenas, per the Times. That prospect is already raising questions about political influence. Larry Ellison has cultivated a relationship with President Trump, whose administration must sign off on any big media merger. People familiar with Trump's private comments say Larry Ellison suggested CBS News would tilt more conservative under Ellison control. David Ellison's choice of Bari Weiss, a frequent critic of legacy media, to run CBS News has drawn scrutiny, including a recent internal clash over a 60 Minutes segment she delayed and called "not ready."

Behind the bid is a relationship that wasn't always so close. Larry Ellison was largely absent when his son was growing up in Silicon Valley, but their bond tightened once they began flying, and then doing business, together. The elder Ellison initially doubted his son's Hollywood venture, Skydance, but he later became its biggest investor; Paramount's board even includes former Oracle CEO Safra Catz. Associates say Larry Ellison has come to see his son as one of the sharpest operators in business. Yet despite the money, connections, and presidential outreach, the Ellisons' influence has limits. Trump has publicly complained that 60 Minutes has treated him worse since the new CBS ownership took over. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, offers a timeline of "the battle for control" of Warner Bros.