By Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) -Hours after his company’s merger with Paramount closed in August, CEO David Ellison’s empire-building kicked into gear.
His studio chiefs announced they had won a bidding war to distribute a new James Mangold heist film starring Timothee Chalamet. Days later came a blockbuster seven-year, $7.7 billion deal for exclusive U.S. streaming and broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, beginning next year.
The UFC deal built upon an earlier $1.5 billion agreement with “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for global streaming rights to their adult animated series – signaling Ellison’s willingness – and ability – to pay top dollar for premium content across multiple genres.
Since Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount, the 42-year-old son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison has moved at breakneck speed to transform the storied studio into something far more ambitious: a sprawling sports, media and news empire that marries Hollywood’s creative muscle with Silicon Valley’s technological prowess. His father, the second richest person in the world, gives him the financial power to implement big ideas.
“Legacy media kind of swam out to the middle of the lake and wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the other side,” Ellison said during a recent briefing on the Paramount Pictures lot. “We’re gonna get to the other side of the lake.”
Ellison’s most audacious move may be yet to come.
Paramount’s new chief executive is preparing a bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, home to Warner Bros film and television studios, HBO, CNN, TNT and Warner Bros Games. The company is on the verge of breaking up, as its television business declines, but Ellison intends to go bigger, creating a media colossus combining Paramount’s library of classics like “The Godfather” and “Star Trek” with Warner Bros’ own extensive collection.
Some observers see bigger ambitions in Ellison’s media moves.
In recent weeks, Ellison installed Kenneth Weinstein – a supporter of President Donald Trump and the former CEO of conservative think tank Hudson Institute – as ombudsman of CBS News. At the same time, he has reportedly been in talks to acquire the Free Press and bring founder Bari Weiss into a leadership role at CBS News.
Media commentators like Oliver Darcy speculate that Ellison may have a broader goal: creating a news media empire combining CBS with CNN’s real-time television and text news operations, potentially forging a conservative media powerhouse rivaling Rupert Murdoch’s global empire in scale and influence.
Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, rejects that notion, saying the Trump-friendly conservative media world is already a crowded space. Rather, he sees Ellison attempting to appease Trump to further his media ambitions.
“We’ve already seen with Paramount, to get a deal passed with this administration, you have to pay tribute,” Kahn said. “Now you’re talking about a much larger deal, one would assume the size of the tribute would increase. If CNN is no longer a thorn in the side of Trump, that would be a green light to consolidate as much market share as he can.”
SILICON VALLEY PEDIGREE SETS ELLISON APART
As Ellison pushes Paramount into the future, he’ll lean on his Silicon Valley sensibility roots.
“One of the things that people are under-estimating is his sense of tech, compared to some of the other guys,” said Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who predicted that changes to come “will be refreshing.”
Ellison’s Silicon Valley pedigree sets him apart in an industry where many executives climbed the ladder from entry-level Hollywood jobs. He spent summers writing computer code for Oracle and gleaned insights about the movie business from Pixar co-founder Steve Jobs, who was his father’s close friend. Those tech sensibilities now inform his vision for Paramount as a “tech-forward company” blending Hollywood’s “creative heart” with Silicon Valley’s “innovative spirit.”
Just what that marriage of tech and Hollywood will look like isn’t clear, but David Ellison appears built for taking risks. He learned to fly at 13 alongside his father, and by 16 was piloting an Extra 300 aerobatic plane – a passion that inspired his studio’s name, derived from the stunt flying technique known as “skydancing.”
Raised by his mother Barbara Boothe with a strong work ethic, Ellison initially studied business at Pepperdine University before transferring to USC’s film school. In 2006, he dropped out to finance “Flyboys,” a World War One pilot movie that flopped. Undeterred, he pivoted to a partnership deal with Paramount that yielded his first success: the Coen brothers’ 2010 “True Grit” remake, which earned 10 Oscar nominations.
Box office triumphs followed with “World War Z,” “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible” films and “Top Gun: Maverick,” establishing Ellison’s credibility with top-tier film makers and talent agents.
“He’s an owner-operator that actually loves film and television and stories, and that is needed now more than ever,” said Bryan Lourd, CEO of Creative Artists Agency.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Paul Simao)
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