Larry Ellison Expands Oracle Stake as Skydance Pursues Streaming Deal

Larry Ellison remains a central figure in technology and media as his Oracle ownership reaches 1.158 billion shares and his company Skydance moves ahead after acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, according to Yahoo Finance and Time Out.

Oracle's 2026 proxy statement released in late September showed Ellison owned 38.2% of Oracle, with the stake valued at $157 billion based on an early October share price of $135.69, according to Yahoo Finance.

Ellison is Oracle's largest individual shareholder, while institutional investors hold smaller positions. BlackRock owned 145.35 million Oracle shares, equal to a 4.8% stake, followed by Vanguard Capital Management with 3.7% and State Street with 2.6%, according to Yahoo Finance.

Ellison accumulated his Oracle position after co-founding the company in 1977, when it operated as Software Development Laboratories. Oracle went public in 1986, and stock splits and share repurchase plans increased the value and scale of his holdings over time, according to the company's historical filings cited by Yahoo Finance.

The media expansion connected to Ellison also advanced after Paramount Skydance completed its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, creating Skydance as the combined media company, according to Time Out.

Ellison said the company plans to eventually combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into one streaming service after completing the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

"Given the way AI technology and other things have progressed, we think we can actually accelerate how quickly we accomplish that goal," said Larry Ellison, CTO.

The planned platform would bring together the two services' audiences and content libraries, with Time Out reporting a combined subscriber base of roughly 200 million users and titles from both catalogs.

Ellison also described the strategic goal of the merged company as competing with major global streaming businesses.

"The purchase by Paramount Skydance will allow the company to compete with the Disneys and Netflixes and Amazons and anybody in the world," said Larry Ellison, CTO.

The deal has drawn criticism from some groups concerned about consolidation in entertainment markets, while the sale closed after a settlement with state attorneys general added safeguards related to films, jobs and newsroom independence, according to Time Out.