A father, a son, and their $160 billion push for media moguldom

When talking about the hostile bid for Warner Bros., he often mentioned Warner Bros.’ history of hostile acquisitions in the 1990s and 2000s, two people with knowledge of the discussions said. Sources said his son, who interned at Oracle for two summers during this period, watched him work on some deals.

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If the Ellisons prevail, their business empires could range from CNN to Warner Bros. to TikTok. This could have enormous implications for the news and entertainment industries; perhaps it could make the Ellisons as influential as the Murdochs of the media dynasty that runs Fox News. Wall Street Daily and other major outlets.

Two people with knowledge of the president’s comments said Trump privately told him that Larry Ellison had assured him that he would transform CBS News, which the Ellisons took over when they bought Paramount, into a more conservative channel.

Sunday night, a 60 Minutes The reporter accused Bari Weiss, David Ellison’s hand-picked editor-in-chief of CBS News, of making a “political” decision to publish a story about Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration. Weiss said in a phone call to colleagues Monday that he kept the segment because “it wasn’t ready.”

Born in 1983, David Ellison was raised largely by his father’s third wife, Barbara, in the Silicon Valley town of Woodside. Many people close to the family say she maintained a warm relationship with Larry Ellison after their 1986 divorce, but that he was not a daily presence in her son’s life. Oracle colleagues didn’t hear her speak often about David, who, when she was 23, said there were “gaps” in their relationship growing up.

The two did not become close until they started taking flying lessons together. “I’m afraid I must have passed on the risk-taking gene,” Larry Ellison said of their shared daring interest in 2006.

David Ellison dropped out of the University of Southern California’s film school and began his acting career. His father largely financed his first major film as an actor. flyboysThis was widely considered a debacle.

Larry Ellison is relieved that his son is leaving acting and entering the business world of entertainment, two sources said. They said their relationship grew warmer as David Ellison achieved professional success. Larry Ellison has always considered himself knowledgeable about Hollywood, and one of his closest friends, Steve Jobs, served as a business mentor to his son.

Larry Ellison was initially skeptical of Skydance, the Hollywood company his son founded and which acquired Paramount. But in recent years, he told friends that he considered his son one of the smartest people in the business world. Several people with knowledge of the Ellisons said he trusted her judgment and tended to agree with her on corporate matters.

“Larry is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but I honestly think David could be even smarter,” said Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, a mentee of Larry Ellison, who said he has known David since he was three years old.

A person with knowledge of the activities said that in recent years, Larry Ellison invited close friends to Saturday dinner at his beachside resort in Carbon Beach in Malibu, Calif., and often watched a movie afterward. And David Ellison also sought personal and medical advice from his father, who considered him knowledgeable about health care. A few years ago, during a tennis match, he called his father for help on how to handle a friend’s medical emergency, people with knowledge of the case recall.

“He gave me an incredible opportunity by believing in me in the beginning,” David Ellison said in a 2022 interview. “I couldn’t be more grateful for that. And we definitely talk about business all the time and work together all the time.”

Today, Paramount’s board of directors (David Ellison’s bosses) includes family office chairman Paul Marinelli and former Oracle CEO Safra Catz.

Larry Ellison’s experiences with the press led him to consider the news business, too. Several people close to him said he was often disappointed by what he saw as sensational news about himself and his personal life. He only truly respected publications such as: Financial Times or Economist. (Oracle is often advertised on the back page.) Economist.) In recent years, he has become more hostile towards the press.

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It seems his son shares the same sentiments. He told People privately that CBS News could improve its finances if it were perceived as less liberal. He hired Weiss, the founder of The Free Press, a startup digital news site, and a regular critic of traditional news organizations, to lead CBS News.

These criticisms of CBS News also coincide with those of Trump, who has established a close relationship with Larry Ellison. Many people who spoke with Ellison said he was once a staunch Clinton-era Democrat, but that his turn to Trump was largely due to the U.S. president’s support for Israel. (Both Ellisons are close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom a colleague described as David Ellison’s uncle.)

David Ellison still relies on his father to help him with Trump, who could disrupt his father’s generosity.

People close to Trump and Ellison’s operations said Trump and Larry Ellison spoke frequently. One of the sources said Ellison had been frustrated at times this year with Trump’s trade policies, but was sycophantic in recent meetings with the president.

A White House official said Trump’s conversations with Ellison were mischaracterized. The official declined to give his name or provide detailed information.

According to a person close to Larry Ellison, the Paramount deal team only occasionally discusses how to leverage the relationship with Trump. But Ellison spoke to the president about Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix announced its agreement to acquire the company, according to a White House official and person close to Trump.

But so far, father and son’s efforts do not seem to have had the desired effect.

“Anyone who thinks I’m close to the new owners of CBS please understand this.” 60 Minutes “Since the so-called ‘takeover’ they have treated me worse than they have ever treated me before,” Trump wrote on social media last week. “If they’re friends, I hate to see my enemies!”