Who are Larry and David Ellison, and why are they reshaping global media?

In recent months, the Ellisons have merged Paramount with David’s Skydance Media, taken control of CBS News, and are preparing to secure a stake in the US arm of TikTok.

Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle and a close ally of President Donald Trump, and his son David Ellison, a Hollywood producer, are rapidly assembling one of the most powerful media portfolios in America. In recent months, they have merged Paramount with David’s Skydance Media, taken control of CBS News, and are preparing to secure a stake in the US arm of TikTok. The acquisitions position the Ellisons as heirs to Rupert Murdoch’s legacy in terms of cultural influence, but with far greater financial firepower. Larry Ellison’s fortune is estimated at $345 billion, more than thirty times Murdoch’s wealth, the Washington Post reported.

CBS shakes under new leadership

Inside CBS News, the changes are already being felt. Reporters and producers were rattled by news that Bari Weiss, the opinion journalist behind the Free Press, is expected to take over as editor in chief. Paramount Skydance recently spent $150 million to buy Weiss’s online outlet, raising concerns that CBS’s long tradition of straight news reporting may be reshaped to reflect a harder ideological edge. Staffers say the newsroom has received little direct communication from David Ellison since the merger closed, fuelling unease about the network’s future direction.

The TikTok factor

Alongside CBS and Paramount, the Ellisons are preparing to secure a share of the American spin-off of TikTok, according to people familiar with negotiations. The move, enabled by Trump administration approval, would give them access not just to Hollywood storytelling but also to the massive reach of social media’s most addictive app. By pairing Paramount’s franchises with TikTok’s data-driven entertainment model, analysts say the family could pioneer a new kind of hybrid media empire that merges traditional content with algorithmic distribution.

Political ties and regulatory pressures

The rise of the Ellison media empire has been shaped by politics. Larry Ellison has been one of Trump’s most loyal backers, hosting fundraisers, bankrolling Republican candidates, and aligning himself with the president’s signature projects. The Federal Communications Commission, under Trump’s leadership, approved the Paramount-Skydance merger after Ellison’s team pledged to diversify viewpoints and appoint an ombudsman to monitor bias at CBS. Weeks earlier, Paramount settled a Trump lawsuit alleging that CBS News had interfered with his reelection campaign. David Ellison insists his company will not be politicized, but observers note that Trump’s pressure on broadcasters makes editorial independence a difficult promise to maintain.

A generational shift in media power

David Ellison, 42, took a different path from his father’s Silicon Valley career, moving into Hollywood with Skydance Media. After early missteps, he produced hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible sequels, cementing his reputation as a serious studio executive. With Paramount’s assets now under his control and his father’s backing in Washington and Wall Street, Ellison has become a new power player in both entertainment and news. Unlike Murdoch, who built his empire over decades, the Ellisons are using a combination of inherited wealth, political alliances, and regulatory leverage to move quickly.

What comes next

The Ellisons have offered conflicting political signals. Larry is firmly aligned with Trump and Republican causes, while David donated nearly $1 million to President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and describes himself as “socially liberal.” Yet their joint holdings—stretching from Oracle’s data infrastructure to CBS’s broadcast reach and soon TikTok’s digital audience—mean their choices will affect not only political narratives but also how millions of Americans consume information and entertainment.

The question looming over the industry is whether the Ellisons intend to use their empire for ideological purposes or purely as a business venture. So far, they say the focus is innovation, investment, and trust. But the appointment of opinion-driven leadership at CBS, the acquisition of platforms shaping online discourse, and Trump’s regulatory blessing suggest that politics and business will be hard to separate.

A new era for US media

For decades, Rupert Murdoch defined how media dynasties could shape politics and culture. The Ellisons, with their combination of Hollywood production, legacy television, and Silicon Valley ties, may redefine the playbook. Their media empire spans more audiences, more platforms, and more money than Murdoch’s ever did. Whether they use that power to strengthen journalism, amplify partisan narratives, or reinvent entertainment remains one of the biggest questions for the future of American media.