David Ellison Net Worth (2026) more than $1 billion, according to a Forbes estimate published October 6, 2026. That was the day his company closed its roughly $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Forbes still doesn’t rank him among the world’s billionaires, and the reason explains how his fortune works. Forbes
Figures below are current as of October 8, 2026. Net worth for private individuals is always an estimate.
How Much Is David Ellison Worth in 2026?
Short answer: Forbes puts his personal net worth at more than $1 billion. It bases that on his merger windfall, his existing Paramount stock and several homes. Forbes
Other estimates are lower and mostly predate the payday:
| Source | Estimate | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Forbes | More than $1 billion | October 6, 2026, after the Warner Bros. deal closed |
| Celebrity Net Worth | About $500 million | Updated before the deal closed |
The gap is mostly timing. The $150 million payday arrived with the deal’s closing, and Paramount shares moved a lot during the bidding war. Forbes also treats the figure as a floor, not a precise count.
Is David Ellison a Billionaire?
Short answer: By Forbes’ own estimate, yes. But he isn’t on its World’s Billionaires list and probably won’t be soon.
Forbes explains that it typically credits all the wealth created by a fortune’s founder to that person, even when some has passed to heirs. David’s money is counted under “Larry & family,” meaning his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Forbes also points to the intrafamily dealings behind these fortunes as deliberately complex and often opaque. ForbesForbes
So the answer depends on the question. He is a billionaire in practical terms, but he isn’t counted as a separate billionaire in the ranking. linkedin
How David Ellison Made His Fortune
His wealth was assembled in layers rather than earned in one stroke.
- Inherited Oracle shares. When Oracle went public in 1986, Larry set aside 90,000 shares for David and his sister Megan. After stock splits, Forbes says that stake would be about 29 million shares today, worth more than $4 billion. But filings showed it shrinking to under 1 million shares by 2012. Nobody outside the family knows where the rest went. Forbes’ conservative guess is that David’s half would be worth around $300 million today. ForbesForbes
- NetSuite. When Oracle bought NetSuite in 2016, David’s trust collected about $370 million before taxes. Forbes estimates that would be worth roughly $500 million today. Forbes
- Skydance. After starring in Flyboys (2006), a film that cost its investors a reported $65 million and took in $18 million, he left acting and, with his father’s money, started the production company Skydance. It scored a hit with True Grit in 2011. A partnership with Paramount followed, producing five Mission: Impossible films, two Star Trek films and Top Gun: Maverick. Forbes
- Paramount. In 2024 he won the race to buy Paramount from Shari Redstone with an $8 billion offer. About $6 billion came from his father, and RedBird Capital supplied the rest. The deal closed in August 2025. Forbes
- Warner Bros. Discovery. After a bidding war with Netflix, Paramount Skydance offered $110 billion, more than 40% of it guaranteed by Larry, and Netflix walked away in February 2026. Forbes
Only the first two layers directly built his personal balance sheet. The Skydance and Paramount stakes are large in business terms, but much of that equity and financing traces back to Larry.
David Ellison’s Salary and the $150 Million Payday
Short answer: His 2025 pay package was $63.2 million, mostly stock. The Warner Bros. deal added a $150 million bonus-and-stock payday.
The numbers from Paramount’s SEC filing cover only August 7 to December 31, 2025, after the Paramount-Skydance merger closed. thewrap
- Base salary: $1.41 million
- Cash bonus: $1.41 million
- Stock awards: $58.7 million
- Other compensation: about $1.7 million, including roughly $1.68 million in personal security costs
The $150 million deal payday is a mix of cash bonus and restricted stock for completing the transaction. Restricted stock normally vests over time, so not all of that figure is spendable cash today. Still, it is a big addition to a fortune that Forbes says has otherwise been fed mainly by family money. Forbes
Ellison’s earnings as an executive are real, but they are a small part of the story. His salary is tiny next to his pay in stock, and his pay in stock is tiny next to the capital his family has put behind his companies.
Larry Ellison and David Ellison: Whose Money Is It?
Short answer: David has the control. Larry has most of the money.
Forbes estimates Larry’s net worth at about $185 billion and calls him the world’s eighth-richest person. His wealth has swung dramatically with Oracle’s share price. Other outlets reported figures of $370 billion in September 2025 and $247.3 billion that December. That is why “Larry Ellison net worth” has no single stable answer. Skydance’s David Ellison Is A Billionaire—But Here’s Why He’s Not On Our List +2
What matters for David is how the family structured the deals:
- Larry personally guaranteed more than $45 billion of the Warner Bros. financing. Forbes
- The Ellisons hold 77.5% voting control of the new company, and David holds nearly all of those voting rights. Forbes
- Forbes sums it up this way: nearly all the money is actually Larry’s. Forbes
A useful way to read this is that David is the operator and Larry is the balance sheet. David’s decisions shape the empire, but the capital behind them mostly isn’t his.
Why Net Worth Estimates for David Ellison Vary So Much
If you’ve searched for this topic, you’ve probably seen numbers from $500 million to more than $10 billion. Three things explain the spread:
- Trusts and private holdings. Much of the family’s wealth sits in vehicles that don’t file public disclosures, and the last public count of David’s Oracle shares dates to 2012.
- Ownership versus control. Counting the voting stake or the Skydance value as “his” would inflate the figure. Forbes deliberately doesn’t.
- Low-quality sites. Some pages repeat wildly inflated numbers and even confuse him with other people. A source that doesn’t explain its method, or that gets basic facts about him wrong, isn’t worth trusting.
For a reliable figure, use the Forbes estimate and treat anything above it as speculation.
What Could Change His Net Worth Next
Short answer: Debt, integration and the stock price.
Forbes notes that David now has to steer two aging studios with billions in new debt, in an industry upended by streaming. That makes his Paramount stock and future bonuses depend on execution, not just deal-making. His equity-based pay also depends on how the combined company’s shares perform. Forbes
His fortune is also tied to his father’s. If Oracle’s stock falls or the family restructures its holdings, the money funding his companies could change.
The Bottom Line
David Ellison is a billionaire in practical terms, with a Forbes-estimated fortune above $1 billion. But that fortune is much smaller than the empire he controls, and most of the capital behind it is his father’s. He built the control, and the family supplied the money.
6. Custom FAQ Section
Frequently Asked Questions About David Ellison
What is David Ellison’s net worth in 2026?
Forbes estimates David Ellison’s net worth at more than $1 billion as of October 6, 2026. The figure reflects a $150 million payday from the Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, his Paramount stock and several homes.
What is David Ellison’s net worth according to Forbes?
Forbes says David Ellison’s personal net worth is over $1 billion. It does not list him on its World’s Billionaires list because it credits the fortune’s creation to his father, Larry Ellison, and counts his wealth under “Larry & family.”
How old is David Ellison?
David Ellison was born on January 9, 1983, so he is 43 years old as of October 2026.
Who is David Ellison’s wife?
David Ellison is married to Sandra Lynn Modic, a former actor and singer who performs as Sandra Lynn. The couple married on October 1, 2011, in Palm Springs, California.
Does David Ellison have children?
Yes. David Ellison and Sandra Lynn have two children. The family keeps their names and ages private.
What is David Ellison’s religion?
David Ellison has not publicly discussed his religion, so there is no reliable answer. Claims found on biography sites are speculation.
What is Larry Ellison’s net worth?
Forbes estimates Larry Ellison’s net worth at about $185 billion, making him the world’s eighth-richest person. Estimates vary by tracker and swing with Oracle’s stock price. Other outlets reported figures as high as $370 billion in September 2025.
What is Megan Ellison’s net worth?
There is no reliable published figure for Megan Ellison, David’s sister and the founder of Annapurna Pictures. Forbes does not list her separately, and aggregator sites show widely different estimates, with one placing it around $400 million. Treat any exact number as unverified.
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