David Ellison

David Ferris Ellison (born January 9, 1983) is an American film producer, media proprietor, and former actor serving as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Paramount Skydance since August 2025. He is the son of Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison.

David Ellison
Born	(1983-01-09) January 9, 1983 (age 43) Santa Clara County, California, U.S.
Education	University of Southern California (no degree)
Occupations	Film producer media proprietor actor
Years active	2005–present
Title	Chairman & CEO, Paramount Skydance Corporation (2025–present) Founder of Skydance Media
Spouse	Sandra Lynn Modic ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	2
Parents	Larry Ellison (father) Barbara Boothe (mother)
Family	Megan Ellison (sister)

He founded Skydance Media in 2006, and served as its CEO until 2025, and has produced the films, including Terminator Genisys (2015), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Life (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with the latter nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

An ally of President Donald Trump, Ellison appointed Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News after the second Trump administration approved the merger of Skydance and Paramount Global in 2025. Later that year, Ellison launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, while giving assurances to President Trump that he would make sweeping changes to CNN if the merger went ahead.

Early life and education

Ellison was born on January 9, 1983, in Santa Clara County, California. He is the son of billionaire Oracle Corporation co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison and his third wife, Barbara Boothe Ellison. His father is of Italian and Jewish heritage. Ellison grew up in Woodside, California, with his mother, who nurtured his love for film. He attended Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California, but dropped out of its film school in 2005 to fund a movie with his family's money, Flyboys, a box-office bomb. Ellison was influenced by businessman Steve Jobs, a friend of his father, and pitched Jobs his idea for Skydance Media before revising it under Jobs' advice. He has one sister, film producer Megan Ellison, who founded Annapurna Pictures.

Larry Ellison was not a day-to-day presence in David Ellison's early life.

Career

Ellison's career started in acting. His father Larry heavily financed his first major film as an actor, “Flyboys”. It was widely considered a failure. Ellison also acted in Little Fish, Strange Pond, and Hole in One before giving up his acting ambitions and going into the business side of the entertainment industry.

Larry provided substantial investment into David's media company Skydance Media. The company's films include Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Annihilation, World War Z, True Grit, Jack Reacher, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond. Ellison was named to Variety's Dealmaker list for 2010 and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2011. Ellison was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Top Gun: Maverick. Ellison's company Skydance Media expanded in 2013 with the launch of its television division. He has executive-produced shows such as Altered Carbon and Grace and Frankie. In 2014, Ellison launched a new line of men's clothing called the "LANAI Collection." In 2017, Ellison helped launch Skydance Animation in partnership with Spain's Ilion Animation Studios. In 2019, Ellison hired the former Pixar CCO John Lasseter to run Skydance Animation.

Paramount Skydance Corporation

In January 2024, it was reported that Ellison was interested in merging Skydance Media with Paramount Global and buying the latter's parent company National Amusements from Shari Redstone. The merger received approval from the FCC under the second Donald Trump administration in July of 2025. The merger was completed by August 7, 2025, and Paramount Skydance Corporation was formed. Ellison serves as Chairman and CEO of the merged company. Following the merger, Ellison made changes at CBS News which Le Monde called "conservative-friendly". He appointed Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief. Shortly in her tenure, Weiss controversially held a 60 Minutes story on the Trump administration's deportations to Venezuela from being aired on CBS.

Ellison sought to hinder a merger of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that Ellison had given assurances to President Donald Trump that if Paramount were allowed to buy Warner, he would make sweeping changes to CNN, the news channel that Trump has frequently criticized. Ellison worked with three sovereign wealth funds owned by Middle-Eastern governments, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, to finance a competing bid for Warner. Defying historical precedent of non-involvement in mergers, Donald Trump personally involved himself in the merger evaluation.

Ellison has been described as an ally of Donald Trump. Trump has boasted about his friendship with David Ellison and his father Larry Ellison.

Personal life

He married Sandra Lynn Modic, an actress and singer, on October 1, 2011, in Palm Springs, California. They have two children.

Ellison is a licensed pilot with instrument ratings for helicopter aviation, aerobatics, commercial aviation, fixed-wing aircraft, and multi-engine aircraft. In 2003, aged 20, he was selected to perform as part of Sean D. Tucker's "Stars of Tomorrow" aerobatic team at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Ellison and his father are close associates of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His father's first wife has described Larry as "an ardent Zionist" and he hosted the prime minister on his Hawaiian island in 2021. David once joined his father on a trip to Israel, posting a photo to Instagram from a dinner with the prime minister that he was "very grateful for everything he has done and continues to do for the nation of Israel." After the October 7th attacks, David also declared that "Skydance stands with Israel."

Ellison is a member of the Producers Guild of America and Television Academy.

Filmography

Film

Executive producer

• Flyboys (2006)
• True Grit (2010)
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
• The Guilt Trip (2012)
• Jack Reacher (2012)
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• World War Z (2013)
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
• Baywatch (2017)
• Annihilation (2018)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
• Without Remorse (2021)
• Snake Eyes (2021)
• Blush (2021)
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

Producer

• Terminator Genisys (2015)
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
• Life (2017)
• Geostorm (2017)
• Gemini Man (2019)
• Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
• 6 Underground (2019)
• The Old Guard (2020)
• The Tomorrow War (2021)
• The Adam Project (2022)
• Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
• Luck (2022)
• The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022)
• Air (2023)
• Ghosted (2023)
• Kelce (2023)
• Heart of Stone (2023)
• Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023)
• Spellbound (2024)
• The Gorge (2025)
• The Old Guard 2 (2025)
• Fountain of Youth (2025)
• The Family Plan 2 (2025)
• They Will Kill You (2026)
• Swapped (2026)
• Mayday (2026)
• Matchbox: The Movie (2026)
• Way of the Warrior Kid (2026)
• Ray Gunn (2026)
• Untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project (TBA)
• Untitled Skydance Animation/Don Hall project (TBA)

Actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2005	The Chumscrubber	Student #1
	When All Else Fails	Mike Williams	Short film
2006	Flyboys	Eddie Beagle
2009	Hole in One	Tyler Hayden
	Little Fish, Strange Pond	Romeo	Direct-to-video

Director

Year	Film	Notes
2005	When All Else Fails	Short film

Writer

Year	Film	Notes
2005	When All Else Fails	Short film

Thanks

Year	Film	Notes
2013	Phantom	Special thanks

Television

Executive producer

• Manhattan (2014−15)
• Ten Days in the Valley (2017)
• Grace and Frankie (2015−18)
• Dietland (2018)
• Condor (2018–2020)
• Altered Carbon (2018−19)
• Jack Ryan (2018−2023)
• Foundation (2021–present)
• Reacher (2022–present)
• Good Rivals (2022)
• The Checkup with Dr. David Agus (2022)
• The Big Door Prize (2023)
• FUBAR (2023)
• WondLa (2024)
• One Night in Idaho: The College Murders (2025)
• Terminator Zero (2024)
• Neuromancer (TBA)
• Ride or Die (TBA)

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Blank Slate	Blake Feltzer	Television film
2010	Leverage	Ballard