David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media, attends the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton on January 7, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Kevin Winter | The Hollywood Reporter | Getty Images
David Ellison, son of Republican megadonor Larry Ellison, gave $929,600 to support President Joe Biden’s reelection efforts, placing him among the incumbent Democrat’s top recent donors.
David Ellison’s donation is the largest recorded contribution the Skydance Media CEO has ever made to a federal candidate, according to Federal Election Commission records.
His February contribution to the Biden Victory Fund is tied with other large contributors in the first quarter of 2024.
Others who donated the same amount as David Ellison that quarter include attorney George Conway, who is a leading critic of former President Donald Trump, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.
David Ellison’s donation comes as his father, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chairman, has kept his wallet tightly closed during this election cycle.
Larry Ellison, who has historically been a major Republican donor, has not made a single federal political donation so far in 2024, records show. According to OpenSecrets data, Ellison donated more than $31 million to Republican candidates during the 2022 congressional midterm elections.
Charles Myers, former vice president of investment bank Evercore and Biden campaign booster, said David Ellison’s donation to support Biden is “a big deal,” citing the donor’s family ties.
“It’s very impactful, as if one of Soros’ sons started writing huge checks to Trump,” Myers told CNBC, referring to Democratic megadonor George Soros.
Biden’s allies have been pushing across the court to recruit David Ellison, as the president’s political team seeks to build an election war chest large enough to effectively fight presumptive Republican nominee Trump in the presidential election.
The move to gain David Ellison’s support — and his large donation — was largely orchestrated by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who was granted anonymity to discuss matters private.
Katzenberg is co-chairman of Biden’s campaign, and his efforts to get David Ellison as an endorser included arranging a meeting with Biden, the source said.
David Ellison attended a private roundtable in Los Angeles in December with Biden and fewer than a dozen other attendees that included wealthy donors, the source said. That event was held at the home of Kurt Rappaport, a real estate investor and Biden donor.
Rappaport told CNBC that he invited a “small group of friends” to his home to attend the event and that those in attendance were “not necessarily” all of Biden’s major donors, but he declined to comment further.
Larry Ellison, founder and former CEO of Oracle Inc. watches a training race from a power boat before the America’s Cup World Series sailing competition on the Great Sound in Hamilton, Bermuda, on October 16, 2015.
Cool Mike | Reuters
David Ellison made his donation to the Biden Victory Fund after the event at Rappaport’s home.
The Biden Victory Fund finances Biden’s campaign, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of state parties, according to Federal Election Commission records. Rappaport donated $929,600 to that fund last July, according to FEC records.
David Ellison’s donation helped the Biden Victory Fund raise more than $121 million in the first quarter of 2024. A similar Trump-supporting entity called Trump Save America raised more than $65 million in that quarter, they show FEC records.
Biden trails Trump by just one percentage point in the latest public opinion poll from the New York Times and Siena College.
Larry Ellison supported Sen. Tim Scott, R-C., in his bid for president, but did not contribute to his campaign. He is now reportedly trying to sell Scott to Trump’s team as the former president’s vice president.
While the Ellisons may be on different sides in the 2024 election, the two are working together on a major media deal.
David Ellison’s Skydance Media recently made a bid to acquire National Amusements and merge with Paramount Pictures. Larry Ellison, who has a reported net worth of more than $149 billion, is planning to help finance the proposed deal, according to a CNBC report, citing sources.
A spokesman for David Ellison declined to comment. Katzenberg and the Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment.