Ellison’s Trump support coincides with new Oracle roles in AI and TikTok

Larry Ellison gave about $45 million to a nonprofit supporting Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the fundraising. The donation, which the Journal said was not covered by disclosure rules, preceded a period in which Oracle gained prominent roles in major Trump-era technology deals.

Ellison, Oracle’s billionaire cofounder, has kept a lower public profile with Trump than several other technology and business leaders, Fortune reported. Fortune noted that executives including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Kelly Ortberg and Jensen Huang joined Trump on a recent trip to China, while Trump also hosted a White House dinner with Silicon Valley leaders and invited figures such as Mark Zuckerberg and Alexis Ohanian to an 80th birthday event.

Ellison did not attend those events, according to Fortune. The Journal reported that he has continued giving millions of dollars to groups backing Trump since the election.

Oracle’s role in Stargate and TikTok

Oracle was named one of the main companies behind Stargate, a $500 billion plan to build artificial intelligence data centers in the United States, Fortune reported. Trump announced the project at the White House on Jan. 21, 2025, the day after his second inauguration, with Ellison appearing alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.

Oracle later joined a group that took over TikTok’s U.S. operations after Trump signed an executive order clearing the transaction, according to Fortune. In September 2025, Trump said Oracle and Ellison would play a large role in the app’s security and safety, Fortune reported.

That same month, Oracle reported $455 billion in remaining performance obligations, a 359% increase from a year earlier, according to the company’s investor release cited by Fortune. Separately, America250 listed Oracle as a corporate sponsor for Freedom 250, Fortune reported.

Federal disclosure documents from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics showed Trump investment accounts traded Oracle shares earlier this year, according to Fortune. The documents did not indicate that those trades were tied to Ellison’s political giving or Oracle’s government-related business.

Media deals tied to Ellison’s family

Fortune also reported that Ellison’s son, David Ellison, expanded his media holdings during the same period. The Trump administration approved Skydance’s merger with Paramount last year, and the deal closed after Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit against CBS for $16 million, according to The Wall Street Journal account cited by Fortune.

This month, the Justice Department cleared Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery without requiring divestitures, CBS News reported, despite concerns from some antitrust staffers, according to Fortune. The transaction would give the Ellison family control of CNN if completed, Fortune reported.

The elder Ellison once told Trump that Paramount could overhaul CNN if it won control of the network, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said the deal remains under investigation by his office and “is not a done deal,” according to comments cited by Fortune.

White House denies favoritism

White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fortune that Trump is focused on working with U.S. companies across industries and is not favoring particular business leaders. Desai said industry executives are investing in the United States because they see the White House as an ally.

Oracle did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. Fortune also noted that Ellison did not initially back Trump in the 2024 race; CNBC reported that he supported Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and The Telegraph reported that Ellison urged Trump to choose Scott as his running mate before Trump selected JD Vance.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.