Ellison Media Empire: From Oracle Riches to $16M Trump Bribes and TikTok Tangled
KEY POINTS
- â˘Larry and David Ellisonâs media portfolio includes CBS News, Paramount Pictures, and a minority stake in TikTok U.S., as of late 2025.
- â˘Paramount controversially settled a $16 million voter interference lawsuit from Trump and faced criticism for lack of public service announcements.
- â˘David Ellisonâs Paramount aggressively pursued Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition amid a struggling TV ad market and investor worries over Oracle's AI debts.
Larry and David Ellison have amassed a media buffet including CBS News, Paramount Pictures, and even a slice of TikTok U.S., but face the ultimate MMO boss: Warner Bros. Discovery. Since July 2025, Paramount settled a $16 million voter interference lawsuit filed by Donald Trump himself â which critics say was code for 'hereâs some pocket money, no PSAs please.' Meanwhile, editorial drama unfurled when CBS Newsâ Bari Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes episode about Trumpâs deportations of Venezuelans, then aired it with a shiny new intro and outro like a Netflix reboot but less fresh. Paramountâs spicy $ scheme offer for Warner Bros. was slammed as shady by WBD, even as Paramount secretly burns cash chasing expensive streaming sports rights amid a dying linear TV scene. Larryâs Oracle stock meanwhile lost half its value pondering AI debt, making this media empire soupbone more fragile than Larryâs balance sheet. Davidâs film producer cred on Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible wonât shield him from the reality that bigger deals come with bigger headaches â and the TikTok stake is stuck at 15%, with Larry nowhere on that board. Paramount also just snagged UFC rights post-Skydance merger, proving the Ellisonsâ motto is essentially 'bet big, meme bigger.'
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Ellisons want to own everything from TikTok to CNN but settled a $16M Trump lawsuit and still canât hold a 60 Minutes segment. Media empire or circus? Spoiler: probably both.
Nothing screams 'media genius' like a $16 million Trump lawsuit payout disguised as a friendly PSA skirmish. Larry and David are rewriting the definition of touch football.
Trying to buy Warner Bros. while your Oracle stock is sinking faster than linear TV ratings is the corporate version of juggling flaming swords in a frat party.
Source: Axios | Published: 1/24/2026 | Author: Christine Wang
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