Megan Ellison Announces Intention to Purchase Crystal Lake Sandgnats from Dole Family

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CRYSTAL LAKE HERALD

SPORTS – GNATS NOW
Megan Ellison Announces Intention to Purchase Crystal Lake Sandgnats from Dole Family
Updated: December 10, 2033 – 11:59 PM

By Howard Heskin, Gnats Beat Writer and ESPN PEBA Correspondent – Twitter @HowardHeskin1

Megan Ellison, the daughter of Crystal Lake Sandgnats co-founder, billionaire Oracle Corporation co-founder and chairman, Larry Ellison, and his ex-wife, Barbara Boothe Ellison announced her intention to purchase the team from the grandson of the legendary ice producing family now headed by Charles Dole, IV today.

Ellision is well known for her production of the classic films Zero Dark Thirty and American Hustle and being Founder of Annapurna Pictures. She has a brother, film producer David Ellison, who founded Skydance Media. She graduated from Sacred Heart Preparatory in 2004 and attended film school at the University of Southern California for one year.

Megan today standing by her long time wife Jessica Chastain stated, “It’s about time that PEBA had female ownership. It’s 2033… seriously. Like my father always said, “you have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. That’s what we plan to do with the Doles out of the way… <cough> once they sell.”

This news came as a shock to the local community, but is not surprising to industry insiders. Charles Dole IV has been well-known for putting profit before the quality on the field the last 6 seasons. The Ellison family has over the last few years been quietly moving pieces behind the scenes replacing one board member at a time. As much as Dole has been known to ruffle feathers, individuals long familiar with Ellison said her biggest battle has been between artistic and financial sensibilities, though other problems have arisen in the workplace. Many former employees credit Ellison for adopting diverse and inclusive hiring practices long before Hollywood’s recent reckoning with race and equity. They similarly applauded her for maintaining Annapurna throughout the 2020 pandemic, when many in her financial position could have easily folded the shop and started anew.

“Megan has an ability to recognize talent, but isn’t a good manager,” said one veteran executive who has worked on numerous projects with Ellison.

Ellison famously dressed down veteran distribution executive Erik Lomis, whom she lured from The Weinstein Company to pilot Annapurna’s distribution efforts , in a staff meeting with over a dozen people. She ordered him to “get the f*** out of my building” in front of senior staff, who looked on in disbelief, sources familiar with that incident said.

Some former employees felt Ellison played mind games. If she thought employees were underperforming, she would reassign desks or offices to stations in another building to make her dissatisfaction tangible, sources said. An individual familiar with the company said this was a creative exercise to encourage collaboration between different departments on a continuing basis. She would also text employees on weekends and in the middle of the night, often sending accusatory and punishing lectures in dozens of subsequent messages if she did not receive immediate responses, the sources added.

Charles Dole when asked for comment given the announcement by Ellison stated, “Over my dead body will I ever sell the Dole family stake in the Gnats.”