Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s $45 million-plus ‘quite donation’ to nonprofits and programmes backing Trump ‘revealed’ and how it runs counter to the donations from other billionaires
Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and the world’s sixth-richest man has quietly donated more than $45 million to nonprofits and programs backing US President Donald Trump, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The funding, not subject to disclosure rules, has not been publicly reported until this week. Ellison’s low-profile contributions stand in contrast to other billionaires who have openly aligned themselves with Trump through public appearances, White House dinners and other high-profile events.
Counter donations made by other billionaires
While tech leaders such as Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Kelly Ortberg, and Jensen Huang joined Trump on his recent trip to China, and executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Alexis Ohanian attended his 80th birthday celebration, Ellison was notably absent. Instead, he has continued funneling millions into groups supporting Trump since the 2024 election, with Oracle also listed as a corporate sponsor for Freedom 250.
Strategic wins for Oracle
The quiet backing of Ellison has coincided with major wins for Oracle. The day after Trump’s second inauguration, Oracle was named as anchor of Stargate, a $500 billion plan to build AI data centers across the US. Later in 2025, Oracle joined the consortium that took over TikTok’s U.S. operations after Trump cleared the deal by executive order. Oracle’s performance obligations surged to $455 billion, up 359% year over year.Ellison’s family has also benefited. His son David Ellison’s company, Skydance, merged with Paramount after Trump’s administration cleared the deal. More recently, regulators approved Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, handing the family control of CNN a network Ellison has long criticized.
White House response
The White House told Fortune that Trump is not playing favorites. “President Trump is committed to working with every American business and business leader to cement America’s innovative dominance, reshore critical manufacturing, and accelerate economic growth for everyday American workers,” spokesman Kush Desai said.
Larry Ellison’s Oracle gets contract for US government
Recently, The Trump administration awarded Oracle a massive contract to build a unified, government-wide human resources platform. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which acts as the federal government’s central HR department, selected the tech giant for the 10-year, $395.8 million “Federal HR 2.0” contract.According to reports by news agency Reuters and local publication Washington Technology, Oracle, whose executive chairman Larry Ellison is a prominent Trump supporter and member of the president’s science and technology council, beat out heavy competition for the deal.The cloud-based platform will be tasked with managing human resource functions for more than two million federal employees. The tech giant faced off against rival software and consulting heavyweights, including Workday, IBM, SAP, and Economic Systems Inc.
