Oracle has shown an interest in getting TikTok, according to the Financial Times, providing Microsoft with a potential competitor in its bid to control the Chinese social video app in the US.
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation; oracle sells database software and technology, cloud engineered systems, & enterprise software products particularly its brands of database management systems.
Larry Ellison’s American business magnate enterprise software has reportedly taken preliminary discussions with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance already, working with venture capital firms including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, and is “seriously considering” obtaining its business in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
General Atlantic is an American growth equity firm rendering capital and strategic support for global growth companies. Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm, primarily concentrates on the technology industry. It has supported companies that now manage $1.4 trillion of combined stock market value
US President Trump announced an executive order on Friday ordering ByteDance to trade its US business within 90 days.
The FT notes that Oracle’s billionaire co-founder Ellison is one of the few US tech executives who has been fully supportive of Trump. However, it’s not clear whether Oracle would be the White House’s favored suitor for TikTok.
A deal to acquire part of TikTok would be constitutionally fraught and technically complicated. Until now, Microsoft has been recognized as the frontrunner in the efforts to obtain an American buyer.
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The FT corroborates earlier reporting from The Wall Street Journal that stated Twitter had also expressed initial interest. Still, there are said to have been “serious concerns” about its financial position for the deal.
While ByteDance hasn’t specified a price publicly, TikTok’s achievement moved it to become the world’s most valuable startup in 2018.