Paramount May Usher In a Big Change to Hollywood’s Ruling Class (Guest Column)

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Family offices have consistently played a significant role in Hollywood’s history, subtly influencing its memorable scenes and technological advancements. Paramount Pictures was one of the earliest film studios run by a family, under the leadership of business magnate Adolph Zukor. He pioneered the vertical integration strategy, which guaranteed that groundbreaking movies like “Wings” (1927), the first Academy Award winner, received the necessary funding and distribution to thrive.

The David Ellison-Paramount Global agreement serves as a noteworthy illustration of how private wealth is reemerging in Hollywood to significantly influence the industry’s future. This influence comes from an amalgamation of technology, imagination, and adaptable funding. Family offices now possess financial muscle comparable to global media titans (the Ellison family’s net worth stands at approximately $200 billion, surpassing Comcast’s market capitalization and matching Disney’s). Unlike these media conglomerates, family offices can make multi-billion dollar investments on a whim, based on their business acumen and creative intuition, rather than requiring complex deliberations.

As the entertainment industry evolves due to streaming platforms and digital innovations, along with shifting consumer habits, family office capital offers several benefits over institutional capital, which is inherently limited in its nature. For instance, institutional capital is characterized by structured and inflexible management systems, limitations on investment types, time constraints for invested capital, demands for management fees and other performance-based fees, stringent financial targets, compliance with regulations, and complex voting and approval processes that can slow things down and result in unforeseen outcomes based on shifting executive teams.

On the other hand, family offices approach matters with a long-term perspective, act swiftly, and operate free from constraints, making them an ideal match for sectors undergoing transformation and demanding agile, straightforward, adaptable responses. Operators who have helmed organizations through tumultuous markets while dealing with capital that prioritizes short-term gains over quarter-to-quarter predictability can attest to the strain it imposes on innovation. This is because executive teams may hesitate to take risks for fear of not meeting predetermined results or simply due to lack of authorization, which in turn breeds creativity stifling frustration and ultimately contributes to a corporate culture crisis.

There’s a remarkable transformation happening in the distribution of global wealth, leading to an increase in influence by family offices like the Ellisons. As of May 2024, the worldwide family office sector is estimated to consist of around 4,500 single-family offices and 2,500 multi-family offices, collectively managing over $4.77 trillion and $6.65 trillion in assets respectively. These figures, provided by With Intelligence and the Highworth Family Offices Database, represent more asset under management (AUM) than the entire private equity industry. However, it’s important to note that this only accounts for family offices that have been discovered; many others operate discreetly, making it challenging to determine their true size. By 2026, it’s projected that the total AUM will exceed $11.41 trillion, suggesting that family offices will continue to grow in importance and impact areas such as venture capital and the entertainment industry.

In the realm of major family offices, Hollywood is offering its support to Ellison, a financier who is deeply involved in the creative sphere and has a reputation for being supportive of talent. Ellison’s production company, Skydance Media, has created a blend of original and franchise content, demonstrating his willingness to take artistic risks and an ability to tell stories that resonate with diverse audiences worldwide. Dean Devlin, who previously worked with Ellison on Flyboys, praised him as a “creative powerhouse” who established Skydance with a focus on art rather than profits. Jeff Shell, who is set to become the president of Paramount, described him as an individual strategically placed at the intersection of innovation and artistic prowess. Ellison is recognized for his collaborative relationships with filmmakers like Tom Cruise, which may challenge budget-conscious studio executives, but have resulted in significant successes.

Ellison isn’t the only one noticing the growing impact of family offices and wealth in the movie industry. For instance, Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH with a net worth of $154 billion, established 22 Montaigne Entertainment to stir up creativity in Hollywood, while the Pinault family office, worth around $40 billion, bought a majority share in CAA – one of Tinseltown’s leading talent agencies that also introduced a “Family Office Practice.

Private equity firms and family offices have been instrumental in funding some recent box office hits, such as Teddy Schwarzman’s Black Bear Pictures with “A Working Man,” which topped the charts, and Steven Rales’s Indian Paintbrush, whose film “Conclave” gained popularity following the election of Pope Leo XIV. Todd Boehly, co-founder and CEO of Eldridge Industries, has backed bold projects like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Whale” through his stake in independent entertainment company A24. These films might not have been produced under today’s studio system focused on blockbusters, but they went on to achieve both critical and commercial success. Boehly’s Eldridge Industries also owns a share of The Hollywood Reporter. Similarly, Dan Friedkin’s Imperative Entertainment financed Martin Scorsese’s ambitious $200 million project “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a risk most studios wouldn’t take today.

Many of the most highly praised films from recent decades have been financed by capital provided by family offices. One prominent example is RatPac Entertainment, co-founded by Australian billionaire James Packer, which has played a crucial role in funding movies like The Revenant (2015) and Bridge of Spies (2015). These films garnered significant critical acclaim and dominated award ceremonies, earning a combined total of 59 Academy Award nominations and 25 wins. Another instance is CJ ENM, backed by South Korea’s Lee family (Samsung), which has demonstrated how patient capital from family offices can elevate meaningful stories with global impact, such as Parasite, Decision to Leave, and The Admiral: Roaring Currents. By 2025, CJ ENM plans to invest nearly a billion dollars in content production, ensuring the creation of more globally recognized cinematic masterpieces.

Just as significant are the billionaires who make an impact on culture through their investments in Hollywood productions. For instance, Participant Media, established by billionaire Jeff Skoll, demonstrated how private funds can be used to create films that resonate and influence society. Skoll’s movies garnered 86 Academy Award nominations and won 21, with titles like Green Book, Spotlight, and documentaries such as An Inconvenient Truth. Unfortunately, Participant Media ceased operations in April 2024.

Throughout his career, Skoll was recognized for his creative vision among the Hollywood billionaire community, collaborating on passion projects with stars like George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, and Matt Damon. By any account, Skoll’s contributions to impact-driven cinema are unparalleled by any other billionaire in history – a legacy worth celebrating.

Skoll can be considered the modern equivalent of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man In The Arena,” and with an estimated net worth of over $5 billion after his time in Hollywood, a peaceful retirement seems imminent.

In a time when artificial intelligence is revolutionizing every sector, Ellison finds himself ideally suited to guide Paramount through its metamorphosis. His progressive outlook is already being implemented. During an investor conference, he revealed his strategy to focus more intensely on core strengths with a “creative-centric” approach. With his Oracle background, Ellison aims to turn the combined company (which will be known as New Paramount) into a “technology-art hybrid,” using cloud technology and generative AI to enhance both operational efficiency and creative expression simultaneously, redefining contemporary filmmaking. Ellison is set to take charge at Paramount Networks and CBS. The strategic moves he’ll make demand patient, visionary investors capable of navigating the early stages of the J curve without being swayed by quarterly pressures.

Ellison’s ascent in Hollywood could provide a corrective path for an industry that frequently prioritizes financial maneuvering over creative ingenuity. If Ellison’s vision becomes a reality, it may break Hollywood’s reliance on safe choices and revitalize a spirit of daring creativity – the same spirit that brought us classics like ‘Chinatown’ and ‘The Godfather’. The merger, already given the green light by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission, is now ready to overcome its last obstacle with the Federal Communications Commission. Here’s hoping that President Trump and FCC chairman Brendan Carr quickly approve the deal, rekindling creativity in Hollywood, so we can all return to enjoying innovative movies once more.

Greg Suess serves as both co-founder and head of the Family Office Practice at Activist Artists Management. This practice collaborates with David Steward II’s Lionforge Entertainment, the Jonas family’s Zedge & IDW, Michael Loeb’s Loeb.nyc, the Anderson family, Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling, and other notable entities.

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2025-05-20 23:16