A YouTube video by Dan Novaes profiling David Ellison’s rapid rise in Hollywood: founding Skydance Media (2006), financing major blockbusters (e.g., Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, Top Gun: Maverick), merging Skydance with Paramount in a 2024 ~$8 billion deal backed by Oracle money, and pursuing a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. The piece contrasts David’s media empire with his father Larry Ellison’s tech and AI influence at Oracle, presenting the two as a growing family dynasty across technology and entertainment.
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This guy is the new king of media. He owns Paramount, Skydance and is about to acquire Warner Bros. Yet you've probably never heard of him. His name is David Ellison. And while most people know his dad, Larry Ellison, the billionaire co founder of Oracle and one of the most powerful people in tech, realized his son is quietly taking over Hollywood. David grew up around power, private jets and Silicon Valley boardrooms. But instead of following his dad into tech, he dropped out of USA's film school in 2005 to start his own studio. Most people thought he was just another rich kid trying to play Hollywood. Until he wasn't. In 2006, he founded a tiny production company company called Skydance Media. He started by financing films like Mission Impossible and Star Trek into the Darkness. Within a few years, Skydance was co producing blockbusters that made billions. Most specifically Top Gun Maverick that saved movie theaters after the pandemic. That single film made everyone in Hollywood know who David was. Then in 2024, when Paramount Global, one of the oldest studios in history, started crumbling under debt, David saw the opportunity to use Skydance to merge with paramount in an $8 billion deal. Now it's good to note that deal was also backed by Oracle Money. Fast forward to today and David, the CEO and chairman of the new Paramount and Sky Dance, which is controlling legendary franchises like Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Transformers, Nickelodeon, cbs, MTV and a lot more. Now he has his sight set on Warner Brothers. A deal that would make him one of the most powerful people in entertainment. Really, only Disney would be able to rival him. But here's what makes it even more fascinating. Larry Ellison still runs Oracle, invests in AI and is now gearing up to take over TikTok's operations in the US all while his son is building the media side of their family empire. Together they're creating a two headed dynasty. One that owns the technology powering the world and the other owns the stories that shape it. For more entrepreneur stories and information like this, follow UBK.
