This billionaire Trump ally and his son are building an unprecedented media empire

The Washington Post ^ | October 4, 2025 6:00 a.m. EDT | Caroline O'Donovan and Will Oremus

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Larry and David Ellison’s holdings span movies, TV networks, CBS and soon a stake in TikTok, in a paradigm-shifting portfolio with huge influence.

Journalists at CBS News reeled on Friday as they digested news reports that opinion journalist Bari Weiss, a fierce critic of the mainstream media, would become the editor in chief of the straitlaced legacy brand.

Two months earlier, there had been cautious optimism in the Midtown Manhattan newsroom, according to two CBS News staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private information. Movie producer David Ellison, son of software billionaire Larry Ellison, dropped by to introduce himself as the chief executive of Paramount Skydance, the company that now owned CBS after an $8 billion merger that promised new investment.

But the newsroom hasn’t heard directly from Ellison since that day, leaving many apprehensive about plans for the network, the two staffers said. The anxiety has been reinforced in recent weeks as details of Weiss’s likely hire — and Paramount Skydance’s $150 million acquisition of her online publication, the Free Press — leaked in media outlets ahead of internal confirmation.

The deal and new role for Weiss are the latest moves by David Ellison as he builds a media empire alongside his Silicon Valley tycoon father. Through pivotal deals negotiated or approved by President Donald Trump and his appointees in recent months, the Ellisons have assembled an unprecedented array of old and new media.

Larry Ellison, 81, is the second-richest person in the world and co-founder and chairman of tech company Oracle, which is set to own a piece of the U.S. spin-off of TikTok, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. David Ellison, 42, made blockbusters including...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Caroline and Will sound skeert.

[oldplayer]

If the Washington Post is against it, I am for it!

[blackdog]

Says the Jeff Bezos newspaper. Oh...brother...

[Dan in Wichita]

...the straitlaced legacy brand.

That's one of the most laughable comments ever recorded in the history of Free Republic.

[escapefromboston]

Wonder if Tik Tok will become unpopular now that Ellison runs the American branch

[9YearLurker]

The CIA Deep State has long run our entertainment world.

[nickcarraway]

I’m not sure I believe Larry Ellison is a Trump ally.

[Maine Mariner]

As long as he is not a Trump foe or suffers from TDS I am okay with this empire building at least for now.

[DIRTYSECRET]

81 years old. Won’t do much good for too long.

[Rockingham]

They ought to be. The Left’s reply to conservative objections about media bias was that conservatives need to get their own media. Now they are, with conservatives developing or buying their own news media companies.

[laplata]

I agree.

[GOPJ]

The father-son duo has differed politically: Larry Ellison is a major Republican donor and friendly with Trump, while David Ellison donated nearly $1 million to President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

Liberals don't have much to worry about here. Edward R Murrow will keep spinning in his grave - disgusted by liberal bias.

[FLT-bird]

Well it couldn’t be any worse than Disney or Alphabet so.......

[Qwapisking]

My first thought was “is this a parody?”.

[ClarityGuy]

Of course the WP refers to OTHER billionaires’ media empires as “billionaires’ media empires.”

[House Atreides]

And this (Bari Weiss Poised to Join CBS News as Editor-in-Chief as Paramount Nears Acquisition of Free Press — https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/bari-weiss-cbs-news-editor-in-chief-paramount-free-press-1236537751/ ) will undoubtedly drive the current CBS News staffers bat-shit crazy.