The Ellison family is using enormous leverage to bet on the Warner Bros. acquisition, and that leverage is exposing Oracle founder Larry Ellison's own financial risk to the spotlight. According to Bloomberg, Ellison disclosed in Oracle's latest proxy filing that he has pledged 67 million more shares of Oracle stock as collateral for personal loans.
$9.2 billion more stock pledged in a year
The filing shows the 67 million newly pledged shares are a 19% increase from a year earlier, worth roughly $9.2 billion at Oracle's Friday closing price of $137.10. Ellison has now pledged about 418 million shares in total — 36% of his 1.16 billion-share holdings — worth just over $57 billion at current prices.
The exemption: the sole exception to a company ban
Oracle's corporate governance rules forbid officers and directors from pledging company stock as collateral for personal loans. There is exactly one exception: Ellison himself, who serves as executive chairman and chief technology officer. Oracle's 2025 proxy statement said Ellison's "pledging arrangements do not pose a material risk to stockholders or to Oracle." But analysts note that when a mega-cap tech titan's visionary ties tens of billions in personal financing to external mega-deals, the structural risk is real: if the tech sector or Oracle itself suffers a sharp downturn, the massive pledge could amplify downside pressure if lenders ever demand maintenance margin adjustments.
Where the money for the $111 billion Warner deal comes from
The pledged shares are directly tied to the Ellison family's backing of Paramount Skydance's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Ellison family and co-investors have committed $47 billion in equity funding for the transaction, with about $24 billion coming from three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and much of the rest apparently sourced from pledged Oracle shares. Paramount is also arranging substantial debt financing. Earlier this week, Paramount settled with 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild union, clearing the biggest obstacle to the merger — the deal is now one step from closing.
Two weeks ago, Ellison pulled a trading plan to sell up to 50 million Oracle shares worth about $7.5 billion; the stock slid on the news. Oracle shares closed Friday at $137.10, down 1.8%, and fell another 2.7% in Monday premarket trading as investors weighed the growing debt load. As the Warner transaction moves toward completion, the amount of Oracle stock Ellison has pledged may keep rising.