Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison to control Paramount Global after financial deal done

The fourth richest man in the world will be in control of media company Paramount Global – the owner of Network Ten – after a deal was finalised in the US.

Larry Ellison is worth $US176bn, accordingto Forbes. Picture: Bloomberg.

Software billionaire Larry Ellison will take control of Paramount Global – the owner of Network Ten in Australia – following a new deal that will make him the company’s main shareholder.

Mr Ellison, the founder of ­Oracle, will control Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, after Skydance, a group headed up by his son David, finalised the purchase of the Redstone family’s interest in the film and TV company.

David Ellison will be Paramount’s chairman and chief executive and have operational control of the business.

Documents filed with the US Federal Communications Commission showed Larry Ellison will own 77.5 per cent of Redstone’s National Amusements after buying it for $US2.4bn ($3.6bn). He will then subsequently control Paramount after the completion of the $US8bn merger.

The company reaches 2.8 billion cumulative subscribers across 174 countries, according to Paramount Global’s website.

The media company owns stations including CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV Entertainment and Paramount Streaming.

In July Paramount Global’s board unanimously approved a merger between Paramount and Skydance Media.

Charles E. Phillips from the board’s special committee said at the time of the announcement: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that we believe delivers to Paramount stockholders both immediate value and future upside opportunity.

“Following extensive negotiations with Skydance, we believe this proposed transaction will position Paramount for success in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.”

According to Forbes, Larry Ellison is the fourth-richest person in the word, worth $US176bn.

Network Ten was contacted but declined to comment.

Australia’s commercial television networks were warned in August that the advertising market would ­remain dire until consumer confidence rebounded, despite being given an expected brief reprieve from the Paris Olympic Games.

Year on year, the FTA networks (Nine, Seven and Ten) saw their advertising slump by 8.1 per cent in the 2024 financial year to $3.3bn, with tough economic conditions and a continuing shift of viewers to streaming services contributing to the downturn.

However, the FTA Broadcast Video on Demand services (7plus, 9 Now and 10 Play) recorded an increase in advertising of 12.7 per cent on the prior financial year to $441.4m.

UBS analysis of the Standard Market Index showed metropolitan FTA ad agency bookings fell 10.3 year on year in the first month of the new financial year, with a base case for metro TV ad revenue to decline by 3 per cent in the current financial year.

A pullback in advertising has come as households and businesses look to keep expenses in check amid inflationary and cost-of-living pressures. Advertising is seen as an easy way for businesses to cut costs.