September 2024. A conference room in Las Vegas, microphones open, financial analysts taking notes. Larry Ellison He talks about the future as if he were describing the weather. “Citizens will behave,” he says, “because we record and report everything that happens.” No one laughs. No one stands up. He's the founder of Oracle, 80 years old, with a net worth that fluctuates by $100 billion a day. He's explaining how artificial intelligence will monitor police officers and ordinary citizens in real time. A year later, that man controls TikTok in the United States, a huge chunk of CBS and CNN, and is building data centers to train surveillance systems. How did we get here? Slowly. Then suddenly.
While Elon Musk While capturing daily attention with provocative tweets and controversial statements, Larry Ellison is quietly building something far more pervasive. An empire that doesn't just own social media platforms or news outlets, but interweaves data control, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and direct access to hundreds of millions of people. And he does so without sparking protests, boycotts, or public outrage. Perhaps because, unlike Musk, Ellison doesn't seek the spotlight. He prefers to operate in the shadows, where real power is built away from the cameras.
TikTok America? Now it's yours too
As of September 2025, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order approving the sale of 80% of TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors.. Oracle infrastructures , the company of which Ellison is co-founder and chairman, leads the pack. Along with Silver Lake and at the bottom MGX of Abu Dhabi, controls approximately 45% of the new entity. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, retains less than 20%. The remainder is held by existing ByteDance investors and new entrants.
But control doesn't stop at ownership. Oracle will directly oversee TikTok's algorithm, rebuilding it from scratch on proprietary cloud infrastructure. Translated? Ellison will have access to the data of 170 million American users and will control the mechanism that decides what they see every day. Not only that: Oracle will also manage the platform's security, certifying that "there is no improper manipulation." Improper for whom? And who audits Oracle? No one, apparently. And the champions of free speech? Silent. On the horizon, there is still no crusade of VIPs and actors who would blatantly abandon the platform, as happened with X.
Vice President J.D. Vance said that "the algorithm will be under the control of American investors." Technically true. But when those investors include Oracle and Larry Ellison, who has openly spoken about AI-powered mass surveillance, the reassurance sounds less convincing.
Paramount, CBS, CNN: The Media Empire Takes Shape
If TikTok is the social network, the rest of the empire is about traditional media. And here comes David, son of Larry Ellison, who in August 2025 completed the $8,4 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount GlobalDavid is officially CEO, but his father controls 77,5% of the company. National Amusements, the holding company that owns everything. In practice: Larry Ellison is the beneficial owner of CBS, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET and Paramount+.
The combined audience of CBS and CNN exceeds that of ABC, NBC, and MSNBC combined. CBS News alone reaches 1,4 million viewers. If CNN (1,8 million) is added, Ellison conglomerate is effectively the most influential news broadcaster in the United StatesAnd it's not over yet: according to industry sources, Paramount Skydance is in advanced talks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes HBO Max, CNN, and DC Comics Studios.
If the deal goes through, Larry Ellison would control streaming services with more than 200 million combined subscribers, two major movie studios, dozens of television channels, and two of America's leading news networks. It's not consolidation. It's monopoly disguised as strategic investment.
Larry Ellison's dystopian vision: "Citizens will behave."
It's not how much Ellison owns. It's what he wants to do with it. Sorry to bring this up again, but I think it's necessary: during Oracle's September 2024 financial meeting, Ellison described his vision of the future: Cameras everywhere (police bodycams, car dashcams, security cameras, smart doorbells) transmitting data in real time to Oracle datacenters, where AI systems continuously analyze everything.
“We will have oversight,” Ellison explained. “Every police officer will be supervised at all times, and if there is a problem, the AI will report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will behave well because we constantly record and report everything that happens.".
This isn't a joke. Oracle is already developing $70 bodycams (compared to $7.000 for traditional models) that connect to officers' smartphones and continuously stream video to company servers. Even when the officer requests "privacy to go to the bathroom," the recording continues. Access is required by a court order, but the stream never stops.
The problem is not just technical or ethical. It's that Ellison sees this total surveillance as a business opportunity. Oracle wants to be the infrastructure that powers the digital panopticon. And now that it also controls the channels through which people receive information, it can normalize this view, make it acceptable, even desirable. We bet Musk already seems less dangerous to you?
Possible scenarios: what happens if no one stops him?
Let's imagine for a moment that the acquisitions continue. That Warner Bros. Discovery actually enters Ellison's orbit. That Oracle further expands contracts with governments and law enforcement. That AI datacenters continue to grow (Ellison recently announced $500 billion in infrastructure investments through Project Stargate). What could happen?
Scenario 1: The closed ecosystem. TikTok, CBS News, CNN, Paramount+, and HBO Max share technical infrastructure. Recommendation algorithms are "harmonized." Content that promotes a certain narrative gets priority because it "performs better." It's not censorship. It's optimization. And no one can prove otherwise because the algorithm is proprietary.
Scenario 2: Surveillance as a service. Oracle sells local governments comprehensive urban monitoring packages: cameras, AI for facial recognition, and predictive behavioral analytics. Cities accept it because it promises "greater security" and "reduced crime." Within five years, 40% of the American population lives under this network. The data all flows into Oracle datacenters. Ellison tracks the movements of tens of millions of people in real time.
Scenario 3: Full vertical integration. Ellison isn't just owning media and infrastructure. It's also starting to vertically integrate content creation. Paramount and Skydance are producing films and series that normalize surveillance as "protection." CBS News is broadcasting reports on "how AI has saved lives" thanks to constant monitoring. TikTok is promoting creators who celebrate total transparency. People are getting used to it. They're accepting it. They're demanding more security, even at the cost of privacy.
Unlike Musk, who triggers immediate reactions every time he speaks, Ellison benefits from a low profile. Few know who he is. Even fewer understand what he controls. And when someone raises concerns, there's no mass movement to boycott Oracle or uninstall TikTok. Silent power is much more dangerous than loud power.
Why No One (Really) Cares About Larry Ellison
The answer is simple: Ellison isn't unpopular. He doesn't post memes, he doesn't insult journalists, he doesn't fire thousands of employees live on Twitter. He operates through complex financial transactions, corporate mergers, and strategic partnerships. As analyst Dan Rather observed, “we need to worry about the consolidation of huge billionaires gaining control of nearly all major media outlets.” But concern isn’t translating into action.
Musk attracts hatred because he's visible, provocative, and divisive. Ellison goes unnoticed because he dresses like a traditional businessman, speaks like a CEO, and uses the sterile language of technology and efficiency. When he says "constant supervision," it sounds like he's talking about quality control, not Orwellian dystopia. And this makes it, I repeat, infinitely more dangerous.
Ellison's net worth fluctuates by $100 billion a day. He can afford to make mistakes, learn from the field, buy into the mistakes of others and correct them. As we have discussed in previous analyses on Big TechWhen money is no longer a limit, the rules of the game change completely. And Ellison is playing a game no one else can afford.
What can we do (if anything can be done)
The options are limited. American antitrust laws were designed for an era when power was measured in market share of tangible products. But how do you measure the power of those who simultaneously control algorithms, data, and narrative? How do you limit who can buy out any competitor before they become a threat?
We need legislative intervention to redefine what constitutes a monopoly in the digital age. We need regulators who understand how technical infrastructure, media ownership, and surveillance systems intertwine to create unprecedented forms of power. Above all, we need people to start caring about Larry Ellison more than they do about Elon Musk.
But as long as Ellison remains in the shadows, building his empire piece by piece without attracting hostile scrutiny, it's hard to imagine a reaction. Perhaps when it's too late, when he controls not only what we see but also how we behave, someone will realize that we should have paid attention much earlier.
Because the problem with quiet power is that by the time you notice it, it's usually already won.
