When David Ellison first came to Hollywood, many dealmakers and insiders both balked and salivated. Here was the son of Larry Ellison, founder of the tech behemoth Oracle, trying to play in the big leagues after dropping out of USC Film School. Being the child of the 3rd wealthiest person in America (now 4th) may have made him not just any other rich kid, but to many, he was still just another nepo baby with cash to burn.
And at first, that’s exactly what he did. Financing and co-starring in the 2006 WWI drama “Flyboys,” Ellison’s first dip into the entertainment waters was a critical and box-office failure, only earning $17.8 million against its $60 million budget.
But Ellison didn’t pack his bags just yet. In Hollywood, timing is everything and when he saw investment banks pull capital out of media and entertainment during the financial crisis of the late 2000s, he, along with other investors with family money, stepped up to the plate. In 2009, his relationship with Paramount Pictures began with a 4-year co-financing arrangement between the studio and his company, Skydance Media, that saw Ellison push $350 million worth of equity and debt into franchises like “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek,” as well as prestige projects like the 2010 “True Grit” adaptation from the Coen Brothers.
The timing of this investment was fortuitous considering Paramount had recently stepped away from a $450 million deal with Deutsche Bank. In the decade that followed, El.
