The Ellison family are one of the most powerful names in global finance and entertainment, and rumours suggest they could become a part of AC Milan.
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This morning, Milano Finanza reported that Gerry Cardinale could sell a minority stake in Milan and that David Ellison family – the founder of Skydance Media and CEO of Paramount Skydance Corporation – is a strong contender to buy it.
The lawyer Felice Raimondo had actually already spoken about this possibility back on April 22 and he revealed some further details on what exactly could happen at a corporate level for Milan.
The Ellison family
At the centre of this story is Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle Corporation and for decades one of the richest men in the world. In 2025, the value of his holdings peaked at over $390bn, while in 2026 his net worth remained stable at over $200bn.
These numbers make a potential purchase of AC Milan a viable operation without any particular financial pressure: even a valuation of $3-4bn would represent a minimal portion of his personal wealth.
Larry Ellison has always shown interest in sports as a strategic and media asset, Raimondo explains. He owns the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, co-founded the international sailing league SailGP and has repeatedly attempted to acquire ownership of NFL and NBA franchises over the years.
In 2016, a consortium linked to his family office was close to acquiring Aston Villa showing concrete interest in European football. Alongside Larry is his son, David Ellison. At 43, he leads Skydance Media, a company that has become one of the most influential hubs in American entertainment.
Last year, Skydance completed its merger with Paramount Global in a transaction valued at approximately $8bn, financially supported by RedBird. That merger created Paramount Skydance Corporation, with David Ellison at the helm.
This step, according to the lawyer, is crucial to understanding the potential connection with Milan. RedBird and the Ellison family have been working together for years on massive transactions in the media, sports, and entertainment sectors.
The Rossoneri could become one of the central assets of this global strategy. The most obvious example came on December 8, 2025, when Paramount Skydance launched a takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery worth over $108bn.
RedBird oversaw the financial architecture, while the Ellison family personally guaranteed a huge portion of the deal’s equity. The goal was to create a giant capable of controlling brands like HBO, CNN, CBS, DC Comics, and a colossal amount of international sports rights.
This is where Milan could enter the strategic picture. Through CBS Sports, Paramount already holds the television rights to the UEFA Champions League and Serie A in the United States. So, the main American broadcaster that shows Milan already belongs to the industrial ecosystem connected to the Ellisons.
If the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, the family would also control TNT Sports and an even larger portfolio of global sports content. For David Ellison, sport represents the fundamental fuel for the future streaming war against giants like Netflix and The Walt Disney Company.
In this context, AC Milan would be enormously valuable: not only as a major football club, but as a global brand with hundreds of millions of fans and untapped media potential.
The truly decisive variable remains the new San Siro stadium. The project shared by Milan and Inter represents the step that could completely transform the club’s economic value. As long as bureaucratic, permitting and political risks remain, Milan remain an asset still in development.
Once the new stadium is completed, or at least when the project risk is eliminated, the club could transform its financial status. With a modern stadium and higher structural revenues, AC Milan could surpass a valuation of between €3-4bn, putting it on par with top European clubs.
Three possible outcomes
From here, three possible scenarios emerge that Felice Raimondo clearly explains:
Scenario one: The first is a gradual entry as a minority shareholder. In this case, the Ellisons could acquire between 10% and 25% of the club through Skydance Sports or the family office.
RedBird would retain operational control, while the Ellison family would contribute to financing the initial phases of the stadium and the media development of the AC Milan brand.
This scenario would focus primarily on content production: documentaries, sports series, exclusive access to the club, and international formats for streaming platforms.
Scenario two: The second scenario is the most ambitious: a full or majority acquisition between 2029 and 2030, once the new stadium is completed. In that scenario, RedBird, like a typical private equity fund, could decide to cash in on the investment after its natural ownership cycle.
The Ellison family would have all the makings of the ideal successor: enormous financial resources, media experience, and a global vision of sports entertainment.
Third scenario: A slowdown or withdrawal. If the stadium project were to stall for years amid appeals, bureaucracy, and political tensions, the Ellisons could shift their focus to more predictable markets like the Premier League or even American sports leagues.
This is a real possibility, as the Silicon Valley operating model is not really suited to the long timeframes and regulatory uncertainty of Italy.
Milan’s future, in the eyes of the Ellison family, likely depends less on the club’s sporting prowess and more on Italy’s ability to turn the San Siro project into a tangible reality. Now more than ever, the Rossoneri’s future seems to hinge on the construction of the new stadium.