At the same time, it would bring some fresh challenges for the rising Hollywood player. Chief among them: Can Ellison transform Paramount, which is weighted down in debt and facing many of the same headwinds as other legacy companies with aging linear TV and cable assets, into a new and successful future?

"David has an institutional knowledge and an appreciation for the studio's history and a real love of movies," said Adam Goodman, former president of Paramount Pictures. "I don't know his plan, but I would bet on that kid any day of the week."

More than a trust fund kid

David Ellison was born in 1983, the first and only son of Larry Ellison and Barbara Boothe, the third of the tech tycoon's four wives. When he was 3 and his sister Megan was 3 months old, their mother filed for divorce.

Ellison and his sister grew up with their mother on a horse farm in Woodside, in the Bay Area. Their father owned multiple properties, including, an 8,100-square-foot home nearby, modeled after a 16th century Japanese emperor's palace.

When David Ellison was 10, his father had an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion and was named to Forbes' billionaire's list for the first time. As of this month, Larry Ellison's fortune has morphed into $131 billion, making him the world's 10th-richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

During school breaks, David Ellison and his sister spent time with their father sailing around the world on his super yacht, Ronin.

By most accounts, it was Ellison's mother who provided him with a grounding, steady influence. In exchange for doing chores, he received a $5 allowance, as he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ellison's mother also nurtured his love of film. They went to movie openings every weekend. At home, she kept a collection of 2,000 VHS titles. Ellison and his sister would binge watch blockbuster franchises like "Star Wars," "Jurassic Park" and the original "Terminator" movie.

When Ellison was 13, he and his father took flying lessons together. Thinking it would instill a sense of responsibility in his son, he bought him a German two-seat aerobatic monoplane, and on weekends the pair — alongside an instructor — staged mock dogfights over the Pacific, according to one of the elder Ellison's biographers.

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