A father, a son and their $108 billion push for media moguldom

When David Ellison became a teenager, his father, Larry, bought him a gift not usually bestowed on a 13th birthday: his own Katana stunt plane.

- IVAN NECHEPURENKO

The two had spent little meaningful time together. But with their own aircraft, the father and son could bond in the air, practicing aerobatic flips and ruling the skies together. Now, Larry Ellison is trying to help buy his son a media empire so they can rule Hollywood and news together.

What was once a relatively weak father-and-son relationship has transformed into one of modern media's most intriguing business partnerships. Towering behind almost every move made by David Ellison, now 42 and the chief executive of Paramount, is his swaggering 81-year-old father, the billionaire cofounder of the software giant Oracle. The two have formed an unusual tag team in their pursuit of major media deals, according to more than two dozen people with knowledge of their interactions. They bought Paramount this summer, and now they are hunting Warner Bros. Discovery with a $108 billion hostile bid.