David Ellison’s ascent to the summit of Hollywood power traces an unconventional flight path. At 13, the Oracle founder’s son received an extraordinary gift from his father: his own airplane. By 17, he was performing aerial acrobatics in professional airshows. Two decades later, he has traded the cockpit for the boardroom, steering his company through a $8 billion merger that placed him atop Paramount, with hopes of adding Warner Bros. To his trophy case.
TL;DR
- David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, received a plane at 13 and performed aerial acrobatics by 17.
- He founded Skydance Media in 2006, achieving success with films like True Grit and Top Gun: Maverick.
- Ellison now leads Paramount Skydance, aiming to integrate technology and leverage Oracle's systems for a "studio in the cloud."
- Despite his aviation passion, Ellison faces challenges modernizing the century-old Paramount studio against streaming and tech giants.
The aviation obsession began early. After watching Top Gun as a child, David Ellison became fixated on flying. His billionaire father, Larry Ellison, purchased a plane for him at age 13, and they took lessons together. By 16, he was flying a high-performance German aerobatic aircraft capable of rolling 360 degrees in under a second. Wayne Handley, a pilot who worked with the family, told Variety that to “pry this airplane out of David’s hands, Larry bought him a top-of-the-line aerobatic airplane out of Germany, the Extra 300.”
David Ellison achieved solo flight on his sixteenth birthday and commenced airshow competitions at seventeen. By 2003, at the age of twenty, he was inducted as the youngest participant in the Stars of Tomorrow aerobatic troupe during the EAA AirVenture Show held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He piloted a Cap 232, adorned in complete Flyboys livery, to publicize the 2006 motion picture.
“I started flying aerobatics when I was 14,” he told Smithsonian Air & Space magazine. “I flew a bunch of airshows, a competition in an Unlimited, and I flew at Nationals.”
The shift toward entertainment developed incrementally. While pursuing film studies at the University of Southern California, Ellison featured in Flyboys, portraying a U.S. Aviator engaged in combat for France in World War I drama. This production incurred a $65 million expense yet grossed a mere $18 million, signifying a short-lived acting tenure.
Ellison ceased his involvement in competitive aviation and performing arts concurrently, withdrawing from USC to dedicate himself to producing. In 2006, he established Skydance Media, supported financially by his father, a billionaire. The firm's appellation mirrors Ellison's enthusiasm for aerial acrobatics, also referred to as “skydancing.”
Skydance's first major success was initiated by The Coen brothers' True Grit in 2011, a film that garnered more than $250 million globally against a production cost of $38 million. This event initiated a collaboration with Paramount, resulting in the creation of five Mission: Impossible movies that earned $3.3 billion worldwide, two Star Trek features, and the immensely successful Top Gun: Maverick, which holds the distinction of being the 14th highest-grossing film of all time.
The acquisition of Paramount, greenlit by federal authorities in August, marks the completion of Ellison's evolution from a risk-taker to a business magnate. David, now 42, serves as the chairman and chief executive of Paramount Skydance, managing operations for CBS, MTV, and Paramount Pictures. The transaction encountered challenges, such as rival offers and political influence from President Donald Trump, who extracted a multimillion-dollar settlement Paramount due to a 60 Minutes legal dispute.
Ellison's approach focuses on incorporating technology. His intention is to establish a “studio in the cloud” leveraging Oracle's systems, employing AI to optimize output and lower expenses. The firm intends to double its cinema premieres and simultaneously update Paramount+'s streaming calculations to decrease customer churn.
Industry rivals observe his growing skill in overseeing fiscal results while satisfying prominent performers, two essential elements of film production.
Ellison retains his adventurous spirit: He has his pilot’s license piloting helicopters, executing daring aerial maneuvers, and flying both commercial and multi-engine planes. The thrill-seeker who once captivated audiences at Oshkosh is now confronting a new set of challenges—a century-old film studio facing disruption from major streaming services and technology corporations.
For this story, Coins2Day news reporters employed AI that creates content as a means to investigate. An editorial staff member confirmed the correctness of the details prior to its release.
