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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In August 1908, a white mob attacked Springfield, Illinois’s Black community, destroying homes and businesses and lynching two Black men. National outrage over the violence helped spur the movement that created the NAACP the following year.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
David Ellison | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1983 |
| Education | University of Southern California (no degree) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Title | Chairman and co-CEO of Skydance Corporation |
| Spouse |
Sandra Lynn Modic (m. 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Larry Ellison |
| Relatives | Megan Ellison (sister) |
David Ferris Ellison (born January 9, 1983) is an American film producer, media proprietor, and actor serving as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Skydance Corporation (formerly Paramount Skydance) since August 2025. He founded the film and television production company Skydance Media in 2006 and later merged it with the media company Paramount Global, forming Paramount Skydance in 2025.[1] Paramount Skydance later acquired all assets of Warner Bros. Discovery in 2026, and the company was renamed as Skydance Corporation. He is the son of Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison.[2]
Ellison founded Skydance and served as its CEO from 2006 until 2025, and produced the films Terminator Genisys, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (both 2015), Life (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022),[1] with the latter nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.[3]
In 2025, under Ellison's leadership, Skydance acquired the media company Paramount Global. An ally of President Donald Trump, Ellison hand-picked political commentator Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News and acquired her digital news outlet The Free Press after the second Trump administration approved the merger of Skydance and Paramount Global in 2025.[4] Shortly after the completion of the merger, Ellison launched a successful hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, with the acquisition being completed in October 2026.
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.[5] Ellison grew up in Woodside, California, with his mother, who nurtured his love for film.[6] His father was not a day-to-day presence in his early life, but when David Ellison turned 13, his father bought him his own Katana stunt plane, and they bonded piloting and doing stunts.[7][8] He attended Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California (USC).[9][10] He has one sister, film producer Megan Ellison, who founded Annapurna Pictures.[5]
Ellison's career started in acting. In 2005 he dropped out of USC film school to act in his first major film, Flyboys.[9][10] His father heavily financed the film.[7] It was widely considered a failure.[7] Ellison also acted in Hole in One and Little Fish, Strange Pond before giving up his acting ambitions and going into the business side of the entertainment industry.[7]
Ellison was influenced by businessman Steve Jobs, a friend of his father, and pitched Jobs his idea for Skydance Media, before revising his idea based on Jobs' advice.[6] His father invested heavily in the company and became the largest shareholder.[7] 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[11] and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2011.[12] Ellison was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for co-producing Top Gun: Maverick. 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 line of men's clothing, the "LANAI Collection".[13]
In 2017, Ellison helped launch Skydance Animation in partnership with Spain's Ilion Animation Studios.[14] In 2019, Ellison hired former Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter to run Skydance Animation.[15]
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.[16] The US$8 billion deal relied heavily on a personal $6 billion investment[17] by Ellison's father, Larry Ellison.[18] The merger received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the second Donald Trump administration in July 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.[19]
Following the merger, the company made changes to CBS News which Le Monde called "conservative-friendly".[4] The company bought Bari Weiss' news outlet The Free Press,[20] and Ellison appointed Weiss as CBS News' editor-in-chief. Many sources have characterized Weiss as conservative leaning despite her denying this label.[21][4][7] To critics, the appointment was seen as an effort to steer CBS in a direction more aligned with the administration of President Donald Trump.[22] Shortly into her tenure, Weiss controversially delayed the airing of a 60 Minutes story on the Trump administration's deportations to Venezuela.[7] The report aired the following month with only minor additional context.[23][24]
In September 2025, shortly after the formation of Paramount Skydance, it was reported that Ellison had started preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Following an auction process in December 2025, WBD entered into a merger agreement with Netflix, but Ellison sought to hinder the merger by launching a hostile takeover bid. The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that Ellison had given assurances to President Donald Trump that if Paramount were to buy WBD, he would make major changes to CNN, a media organization that Trump has frequently criticized.[25] Ellison worked with three sovereign wealth funds owned by Middle-Eastern governments, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, to finance his competing bid for WBD.[25] As with the Paramount merger, Ellison's father, Larry Ellison, also played a significant role in the takeover of WBD, putting up $40.4 billion in equity financing as a personal guarantee.[26] Defying historical precedent of non-involvement in mergers, Donald Trump personally involved himself in the merger evaluation.[27] In February 2026, after Ellison raised his bid for the company, WBD concluded that it was a superior proposal to the Netflix deal. Netflix declined to raise its bid for the company and Paramount and WBD signed a definitive merger agreement shortly after, subject to approval by federal regulators. Ellison will continue his tenure as chairman and CEO of the combined company.
In April 2026, Ellison feted Donald Trump and senior Trump administration officials at an event titled, "honoring the Trump White House," in Washington D.C., alongside top executives and journalists from CBS News. Guests at the event included federal regulators who were overseeing the merger.[28] On June 12, 2026, the U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division approved Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of WBD.[29]
Paramount's attempt to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery faced antitrust challenges from a group of state attorneys general, which delayed the acquisition.[30] The delay could add significant costs to the $110 billion deal.[30] However, on September 21, 2026, Paramount ultimately settled with the state attorneys general, clearing the path for Paramount to complete the acquisition.[31]
Ellison married Sandra Lynn Modic, an actress and singer, on October 1, 2011, in Palm Springs, California.[32] They have two children.[33]
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 the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh.[34]
Ellison and his father are close associates of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[7] His father's first wife has described Larry as "an ardent Zionist" and Larry hosted Netanyahu on his Hawaiian island in 2021.[35] Ellison once joined his father on a trip to Israel, posting a photo on Instagram from a dinner with Netanyahu where Ellison said he was "very grateful for everything [Netanyahu] has done and continues to do for the nation of Israel."[35] After the October 7th attacks, Ellison declared that "Skydance stands with Israel."[35]
Ellison is a member of the Producers Guild of America and Television Academy.[36]
Ellison used to be a Democratic donor and said in 2022 that he is a "socially liberal person."[37] He donated $929,600 to Biden's reelection campaign in 2024.[38] But since 2025, Ellison has been described as an ally of Donald Trump.[4] Trump has boasted about his friendship with Ellison and his father.[27] Ellison was the guest of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham at Trump's 2026 state of the union address.[39]
Executive producer
Producer
| Year | Title | 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 |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Blank Slate | Blake Feltzer | Television film |
| 2010 | Leverage | Ballard |
Tom and Katie were in Palm Springs this weekend celebrating the wedding of Sandy Modic and David Ellison.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
David Ferris Ellison (born January 9, 1983) is an American film producer, media proprietor, and actor serving as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Skydance Corporation (formerly Paramount Skydance) since August 2025. He founded the film and television production company Skydance Media in 2006 and later merged it with the media company Paramount Global, forming Paramount Skydance in 2025. Paramount Skydance later acquired all assets of Warner Bros. Discovery in 2026, and the company was renamed as Skydance Corporation. He is the son of Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison. Ellison founded Skydance and served as its CEO from 2006 until 2025, and produced the films Terminator Genisys, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (both 2015), Life (2017), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022), with the latter nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2025, under Ellison's leadership, Skydance acquired the media company Paramount Global. An ally of President Donald Trump, Ellison hand-picked political commentator Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News and acquired her digital news outlet The Free Press after the second Trump administration approved the merger of Skydance and Paramount Global in 2025. Shortly after the completion of the merger, Ellison launched a successful hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, with the acquisition being completed in October 2026.
David Ellison (1939 – 10 June 2010) was a British television actor born in Stalybridge, probably best remembered for his portrayal of police sergeant Joseph Beck, in the 1980s BBC television series Juliet Bravo. He also had minor roles in TV shows such as Coronation Street, The Sweeney, Ripping Yarns, Heartbeat, Last of the Summer Wine, The Bill and Waiting For God. Ellison gave up acting in 1995; he retired to the village of Beer in Devon, and died on 10 June 2010.
Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American businessman. He co-founded the software company Oracle Corporation, and was its CEO from 1977 to 2014. He now serves as its CTO and executive chairman. According to Forbes, as of early 2026, Ellison's estimated net worth is $201–203 billion, making him the world's sixth-richest person. On September 10, 2025, Ellison was briefly the wealthiest person in the world after an increase in Oracle stock price, with an estimated net worth of $393 billion. He is also known for various other investments, such as his ownership of 98% of the land on Lānaʻi, the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands, his stake in the automotive and clean energy company Tesla, Inc. worth over $19 billion, and his controlling stake in the mass media conglomerate Skydance Corporation, which is managed by his son David Ellison.
Glenn David Ellison (born 1965) is an American economist who is the Gregory K. Palm Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an Elected Fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory and American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He is the father of convicted business executive Caroline Ellison.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Joe Louis.
