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.
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.
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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.
cardinale treats ACM like a toy, who would’ve taught that our fans would “long” for the previous owner…
Omg. Amazing future for the club with this sh*t. I really hope the stadium doesn’t happen and Cardinale is forced to sell to someone else. I was hoping for the stadium before but when I see the potential new owners, it’s best that Cardinale fails.
Yeah one of the worlds biggest in media is a horrible owner in times of FFP, where revenues/commercial success is the most important part to grow the club, and make it competative.
Better with oil money from some middle eastern dictatorships private fund, right?
Yes, huge US corporations are really great owners, care what the fans think and in general have showed BIG success in football? Can you name two that did good?
That you ask this question shows how utterly clulesless you are about the sport, which was evident after your previous posts. Arsenal, Atalanta, Inter, Liverpool, Milan and Roma have won (are about to win in Arsenal’s case) major titles under American ownership. They don’t care what fans like YOU think, they care about their consumers.
After you do that, can you compare with those private funds you mentioned? Who is doing better? Who won more titles? Whose fans are happier? There are also other potential buyers, the worst option is a US corporation with 100 assets that doesn’t care if 1 does bad. It would 100% be better to have someone like that Qatari guy from PSG who is embarrassed to lose a game. Or you prefer someone whose goal is to take profit from the club? Brilliant!
In a sea of idiotic takes this is genuinely the stupidest…
Yep. Some people want the club to fail, just so they are proven right.
What? Can you do 2+2? How does the club fail if Gerry doesn’t build the stadium and someone else buy the club? You’re on special level of being special. Are you paid by Redbird? Them failing won’t destroy Milan. The club will not fail. If Ellison family doesn’t own the club it will still exist.
I already explained this and you still don’t understand.
These people are successful businessemen. They’re successful because their businesses are successful.
The only way to make a huge profit on Milan is by making Milan successful. You’re the one who said you want him to fail, which obviously means you don’t want Milan to succeed.
It’s usually a bad idea for people like you to reply to people like me.
Also proven right about what? Which point am I trying to be proven right by being against this? I’d love to hear that. 😀 What a clown.
Is it? Or is it that you don’t have a basic understanding of Gerry’s motives over the past 4 years and what Milan is used for?
I completely agree, I just wouldn’t put it so nicely. Not fun.
It’s because you’re a mo*on and you can’t do 2+2. Not my fault, ask your parents why you got those stupid genes.
What is for sure is that Gerry needs outside investors to actually get the stadium off the ground, and that’s only having to finance half of it. He doesn’t have/won’t use his own funds for it.
So who are we getting in bed with this time? And how’s Inter financing their half of the stadium i’m curious?
Remember a few weeks ago when everyone was “praying for the stadium to get built so Cardinale finally sells”?
Who did people think he was going to sell to, Barbera Berlusconi? 😂
We’ll be owned by gazillionaires who don’t care about you dor the rest of your life and beyond.
Have a good day.
You do know that wealthy people became wealthy by being successful, right? Stop being so dense. These companies want to be associated with success, not failure.
You DO know I didn’t say anything about failure, right?
Stop being so blind to nuance. Not everything is FOR or AGAINST a position you have personally taken.
There’s no nuance, you’re playing into the silly idea that the owners aren’t concerned about success.
Yes, but caring about me is irrelevant, I don’t expect the owner of the club to care about me. But the club, history, winning. These people 100% don’t care, they want to make a profit. Glazers at United couldn’t care less about being 5th because it was profitable.
I think we’re in agreement then, aren’t we?
More or less yes, I just don’t 100% agree that it’s billionaires. But US corporations have shown they don’t care about the sporting side but profits, except in one case that I know of. That is why I dislike these people as AC Milan owners.
My post wasn’t in support of the owners, just pointing to the reality of what ownership looks like now to idealists who dream of going backwards.
I am neither for nor against the pot of money that funds the company that owns the football club. I am against the people misspending that money. That could change any time.
What Serie A should have done is introduce the German model. Even Barcelona and Real Madrid operate under that model and they are arguably the most successful clubs on the planet, along with Arab owned. The only positive US owned is Liverpool with 3 major titles in 16 years.
That the true reason cardinale buy ac milan.. just to get rich by selling to others
Ya all want him to sell init?
Is he then supposed to sellfor a loss? Heck, Berlusconi sold for profit, who the herll is Gwrry not to.
Get real buddy, this is real life happening right before you.