Larry Ellison resigned from his position as CEO of Oracle more than a decade ago. However, the company’s co-founder, who now serves as CEO and CTO — with an estimated fortune of $190 billion — remains deeply involved in Oracle’s biggest moves. Its influence extends beyond enterprise software, extending from AI infrastructure and social media to Hollywood. Ellison is a major backer of the Trump administration’s Stargate project, the US takeover of TikTok, and the Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at $110 billion, is led by his son, David Ellison.
Most of Ellison’s wealth comes from his holdings in Oracle, and the company has soared amid the artificial intelligence boom. Oracle reported that for its fiscal third quarter ended February 28 $17.2 billion in revenue, up 22 percent from the previous year, including $8.9 billion from cloud services, up 44 percent. Once known primarily for database software and enterprise tools, Oracle has repositioned itself as a cloud powerhouse supporting the world’s AI ambitions.
According to Oracle Agency filing 2025Ellison pledged to buy 346 million shares of Oracle stock — worth approximately $51 billion — as security to fund “personal outside business ventures.” Today, his influence combines business strategy with a broader global outlook. In early 2025, he publicly said that governments should standardize their national data systems so that AI platforms can query information more effectively. Ellison has also maintained close political ties, hosting a fundraiser for President Donald Trump at his California home in 2020.
Ellison’s reach now converges across three fronts: building AI infrastructure with Oracle at the Stargate hub, securing TikTok’s American future, and financing one of Hollywood’s biggest mergers.
Stargate’s $500 billion AI ambition
On January 21, 2025, Ellison appeared at the White House with Donald Trump, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son to unveil Stargate, a plan to invest up to $500 billion over four years in the infrastructure of the United States. The initiative began with $100 billion in immediate financing and construction already underway in Texas. Ellison said the effort will eventually expand to about 20 data centers nationwide.
OpenAI has named Oracle, Nvidia, and OpenAI itself as lead developers and operators of Stargate’s computing systems. While SoftBank and OpenAI were both expected to Contributing $19 billion In the stock, Oracle’s exact investment was not disclosed.
Ellison remained the project’s chief evangelist, announcing in March 2025 that Oracle would double the capacity of its global data center that year. By July, Oracle and OpenAI announced plans to develop up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional Stargate capacity in the US – enough to run several million servers – is expected to total more than 5 gigawatts In progress when combined with the main campus in Abilene, Texas.
By September, the joint venture had expanded to approx 7 gigawatts of planned capacity across locations in Texas, New Mexico and the Midwest, representing more than $400 billion in expected investment. But the momentum was not smooth. In March 2026, Oracle and OpenAI canceled 600 MW expansion near Abilene after funding talks stall and OpenAI’s priorities shift. However, the broader buildout of 4.5 GW remains on track, and Abilene continues to host two operational data centers with six more in the planning.
TikTok is made in the USA
In January, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, terminated the US-majority-owned TikTok US to comply with a government mandate to withdraw or ban. The restructured authority gave Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX in Abu Dhabi stakes of 15% each, while ByteDance retained 19.9%. Under the deal, Oracle becomes a security guard for TikTok US, hosting all US user data and algorithm controls on its own local cloud under strict cybersecurity protocols.
In its March 10 filing, Oracle valued its stake at approx 2 billion dollars. By September, Vice President J.D. Vance estimated the organization’s total value at approx 14 billion dollars. The arrangement made Oracle an investor and infrastructure partner in one of the most politically scrutinized US technology companies.
However, the controversy continues. On March 17, Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, pressed White House officials to reveal whether investors had agreed to pay a $10 billion fee to the US Treasury Department as part of the Trump-brokered deal. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit is challenging the administration’s approval of the deal.
The wealth behind Paramount Skydance’s WBD bid
Ellison’s influence extends into the entertainment world through his personal wealth. In December 2025, it is Personally guaranteed $40.4 billion to support Paramount Skydance’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which stepped in after Warner’s board questioned the certainty of financing for the show.
Led by Ellison’s son, David Ellison, Paramount Skydance has been competing with Netflix to acquire Warner. Netflix ultimately refused to match the final offer, paving the way for a landmark $110 billion deal announced in February 2026.
according to Reutersis being acquired With $47 billion in equity financing From the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners, as well as $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.