Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, has funneled tens of millions of dollars into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), directly funding its war machine. In 2017, he donated $16.6 million to Friends of the IDF, the largest single contribution in the group’s history, to build welfare facilities for recruits at a new training campus. Earlier, in 2014, he contributed an additional $10 million for scholarships and support for wounded soldiers, totaling at least $26 million, according to tax records and press reports. These funds subsidize uniforms, equipment, and recreation for troops involved in controversial operations in Gaza and the West Bank, where the UN documents systematic human rights violations. Ellison justifies his donations as defending “our home,” a euphemism that ignores the Palestinian cost: thousands of civilians killed in bombings funded, in part, by his selective philanthropy.
This network of military support extends to archaeological digs in East Jerusalem, funded by Ellison and criticized by Palestinians and peace-minded Israelis as tools of colonization. In 2019, his contributions to projects in occupied areas fueled accusations of ethnic whitewashing, with excavations undermining Palestinian claims to the land. The Ellison family, led by Larry, has avoided public scrutiny, but his donations coincide with Oracle contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, valued at hundreds of millions for surveillance software. David Ellison, his son, inherits this shadow: leaked emails reveal his coordination with former IDF chief Benny Gantz to sabotage pro-BDS activists in the US, recruiting “digital guerrillas” against peaceful boycotts. Such actions turn family philanthropy into a weapon against global dissent, prioritizing loyalties over justice.
The Ellison family’s rise to absolute wealth began in 1977, when Larry, a programmer without a college degree, co-founded Software Development Laboratories with a borrowed $2,000. Inspired by an IBM paper on relational databases, he created Oracle for the CIA under the codename “Project Oracle,” an initial contract that positioned it as a key supplier to US intelligence. The company, renamed Oracle in 1982, capitalized on the enterprise computing boom, selling software to banks and governments for perpetual licenses and annual support. By 1986, when the company went public, Ellison controlled 60% of the shares; today, with 40%, his fortune exceeds $393 billion, fueled by the rise of AI in 2025. This accumulation wasn’t luck: aggressive antitrust lawsuits and mass layoffs forged an empire valued at $57.4 billion in annual revenue.
David Ellison, born in 1983, transformed that legacy into Hollywood with seemingly no effort. With injections of capital from his father, he founded Skydance Media in 2010, producing hits like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible,” which generated billions at the box office. His personal fortune is around $500 million, derived from equity in Skydance and Oracle trusts, but dwarfed by family support: Larry injected $8 billion for the merger of Skydance and Paramount in 2025, creating a media giant with CBS, MTV, and UFC rights. This maneuver isn’t meritocracy; it’s nepotism codified as business acumen, where the son inherits not only money but also access to networks that ordinary mortals ignore. The family accumulates vertical power: from data to entertainment, controlling global narratives without accountability.
In Trump’s cabinet, Ellison’s imprint is seen in appointments like Oracle CEO Safra Catz as Secretary of Commerce, facilitating deals that benefit the firm in defense cloud computing. Larry collaborated with the Heritage Foundation on databases to recruit Trump loyalists, filtering profiles for key roles in government efficiency. David, despite donating $100,000 to Democrats in 2024, is now aligning himself: attending UFC fights with Trump and appointing Bari Weiss, a fanatical pro-Israel activist, as editor of CBS News, skewing coverage of Gaza. This family duo not only finances; they infiltrate, turning media outlets into megaphones for Trumpian and Israeli agendas.
The Ellison fortune, born from contracts with spy agencies, closes the loop by privatizing information control. Oracle, with its CIA origins, now handles TikTok data under Trumpist tutelage, potentially biasing algorithms against pro-Palestinian voices, as Ellison pushed against BDS. Larry, a self-proclaimed atheist, defends Israel for its “innovative spirit,” ignoring the fact that his donations arm bombs that fall on schools. David, the heir, produces “Red Alert,” a drama about October 7th that glorifies the IDF. Nothing is accidental.
