Larry Ellison stepped down as CEO of Oracle more than a decade ago. However, the company’s founder, who is now the executive chairman and chief technology officer – who is worth an estimated $190 billion – is still deeply involved in Oracle’s major operations. His influence goes far beyond enterprise software, from AI infrastructure and social media to Hollywood. Ellison is a key backer of the Trump administration’s Stargate project, the US takeover of TikTok and the acquisition of Warner Bros. The $110 billion Discovery is led by his son, David Ellison.
Most of Ellison’s fortune comes from his company Oracle, and the company has risen amid the AI boom. The third fiscal quarter ended on Feb. 28, reports Oracle $17.2 billion in revenue, up 22 percent from last year, including $8.9 billion from cloud services, up 44 percent. Once known primarily for its database software and business tools, Oracle has repositioned itself as a cloud powerhouse powering the world’s AI ambitions.
According to Oracle 2025 to install a proxyEllison pledged 346 million Oracle shares—worth about $51 billion—as collateral to fund “foreign ventures.” His influence today includes business strategy and a broader worldview. In early 2025, he publicly argued that governments should integrate their national data systems so that AI platforms can effectively query information. Ellison has also maintained close political ties, hosting a fundraiser for President Donald Trump at his California home in 2020.
Ellison’s reach now intersects on all three fronts: building the AI infrastructure with Oracle at the heart of Stargate, securing TikTok’s American future and financing one of Hollywood’s biggest mergers.
Stargate’s $500 billion ambition for AI
On Jan. 21, 2025, Ellison appeared at the White House with Donald Trump, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son to launch Stargate, a plan to invest up to $500 billion over four years in USAI infrastructure. The program started with a $100 billion investment and construction that is already underway in Texas. Ellison said the effort will eventually reach about 20 data centers across the country.
OpenAI has named Oracle, Nvidia and OpenAI itself as the lead developers and operators of Stargate computing systems. While SoftBank and OpenAI were one each expected to contribute $19 billion in equity, Oracle’s specific investment was not disclosed.
Ellison remained the project’s main evangelist, announcing in March 2025 that Oracle would double its global data center capacity that year. In July, Oracle and OpenAI announced plans to develop up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional Stargate capacity in the US—enough to power several million servers—and expects a total of more than 5 gigawatts in the pipeline when joining the flagship campus in Abilene, Texas.
By September, participation had grown to approx 7 gigawatts capacity is planned across sites in Texas, New Mexico and the Midwest, representing more than $400 billion in anticipated investment. But the momentum was not seamless. In March 2026, Oracle and OpenAI abandoned a 600-megawatt expansion near Abilene after financing negotiations stalled and OpenAI’s priorities changed. Still, construction on the 4.5-gigawatt facility is well under way, and Abilene continues to have two data centers in operation and six more in the plans.
The making of TikTok US
In January, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, completed the creation of the American majority TikTok US to comply with the government’s mandate to classify or ban. The restructured entity gave Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX 15 percent each, while ByteDance retained 19.9 percent. Under the agreement, Oracle became the protector of TikTok US, holding all the data of American users and algorithm controls in its domestic cloud under strict cybersecurity agreements.
In its March 10-Q filing, Oracle valued its stake at approx $2 billion. In September, Vice President JD Vance estimated the total business value at approx $14 billion. The deal made Oracle an infrastructure partner for one of America’s most politically scrutinized technology businesses.
However, the debate continues. On March 17, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, pressed White House officials to reveal whether investors agreed to pay $10 billion to the US Treasury as part of a deal brokered by Trump. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit is challenging the administration’s approval of the deal.
Good luck behind Paramount Skydance’s WBD bid
Ellison’s path extends into entertainment for his own good fortune. In December 2025, he personally verified $40.4 billion to bolster Paramount Skydance’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, stepped in after Warner’s board questioned the reliability of the financing.
Led by Ellison’s son, David Ellison, Paramount Skydance was competing with Netflix to acquire Warner. Netflix ultimately declined to match the final offer, paving the way for a landmark $110 billion deal announced in February 2026.
In accordance with Reutersthe purchase is being financed with $47 billion in equity from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, and $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
