analysis
Media and power
Ellison, Trump and the TikTok deal in the USA
Billionaire Larry Ellison’s media empire continues to grow rapidly as he takes control of TikTok in the US. Critics warn against being too close to US President Trump.
January 22nd marks a turning point for TikTok – and for the US media landscape. Today, the sale of the app’s US business to a consortium of investors will be completed. Curtain up for Larry Ellison: Oracle founder, billionaire, Trump supporter – and media mogul-to-be.
Ellison leads the joint venture “TikTok USDS”, consisting of the tech group Oracle, the private equity firm Silver Lake and the United Arab Emirates-based company MGX.
Oracle has control over data and algorithm
“TikTok USDS” takes over 45 percent of the shares in TikTok’s US business, the Chinese parent company ByteDance has almost 20 percent, while the existing investors hold the remaining 35 percent.
“TikTok USDS” is responsible for data protection and content moderation in the USA. It therefore decides which TikTok content may be distributed in the USA in the future, what is permitted and what is not. Oracle will also monitor compliance with national security standards, host user data and adjust the algorithm.
AI boom makes Ellison richer
This makes TikTok an elementary part of a media and data empire that is currently rapidly forming around the Ellison family. The 81-year-old patriarch Larry Ellison is far less present in public than many other tech billionaires.
But his influence is growing – economically, politically and in the media. And that is no coincidence. George Polisner, a former Oracle manager, described Ellison’s “incredible desire for power” on National Public Radio.
Since the start of the AI boom, Oracle’s share price has more than doubled, and Ellison’s fortune has skyrocketed accordingly. In September 2025, he even briefly replaced Elon Musk as the richest person in the world. Ellison is currently ranked fifth on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list – with a fortune of almost $240 billion.
Media empire in the making
Parallel to Oracle’s growing success on the stock market, the Ellison family’s influence on the media world is also increasing. Larry Ellison’s son David is CEO of Paramount Skydance. The group includes, among others, the news channel CBS News, Paramount Pictures and the streaming service Paramount+.
Paramount Skydance has also launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). To back up the offer, Larry Ellison provided a personal financial guarantee of approximately $40.4 billion. However, the WBD board has so far rejected this and recommended that shareholders give priority to Netflix’s offer.
Ellison family soon more powerful than the Murdochs?
If the Ellisons also get a chance at WBD, their media influence would continue to grow. Media historians are critical of this, warning that simultaneous control of a powerful social media platform like TikTok and a television network including CBS and CNN could give the Ellisons even more influence than the Murdoch family:
Ellison is moving ever closer to Trump
But it’s not just this concentration of media power that is causing criticism – but also Ellison’s closeness to Donald Trump. The entrepreneur is considered a friend and supporter of the US President for many years. Ellison held a high-priced fundraiser for Trump at his Rancho Mirage estate in California in February 2020.
After Trump’s defeat in the election in November of that year, according to court documents, Ellison participated in a phone call in which Trump allies discussed how to challenge the election results or exert political pressure.
Since then, Ellison is said to have become increasingly friends with Trump; he appeared at Trump’s side at the presentation of the billion-dollar AI infrastructure project “Stargate” at the White House in early 2025.
Trump greets supporters at the Palm Springs airport on his way to a fundraiser at Ellison’s Rancho Mirage.
Controversial personnel: MAGA supporter White
The question that many US media and analysts are now asking themselves is: Will the media controlled by the Ellison family, i.e. TikTok, CBS and possibly soon also CNN, become more Trump-friendly?
In fact, Ellison’s son David promoted Bari Weiss to the newly created position of editor-in-chief at CBS News back in October. Weiss is co-founder of the right-wing website “The Free Press”, a supporter of the Trump movement MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) – and known for her attacks on liberal institutions, “wokeness” and “cancel culture”.
Domestic instead of foreign propaganda?
In her new role, she not only reports directly to Ellison, but she also actively intervenes in editorial processes. She is said to have prevented Trump-critical editions of the CBS report format “60 Minutes” from being broadcast twice.
But whether this will become the blueprint for future content moderation on TikTok in the US remains to be seen. The fact is: The Ellison family now controls one of the most important social media platforms in the USA. The threat of Chinese espionage, censorship and propaganda could thus be averted. The only question is – at what price?
