Oracle toys with TikTok race
August 19, 2020
Oracle has joined the race to acquire the US operations of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.
Microsoft had been the clear favourite to purchase the operations – valued in excess of $20 billion – whilst Twitter has also been touted as a potential buyer. But now Oracle, the software multinational, has emerged as a serious contender, having received US President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Trump said Oracle would be “a great company” to take over TikTok’s US operations during a speech in Arizona.
It comes after Oracle was reported as a potential buyer of the video-sharing app’s business in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Analysts seemed to agree that while the user data could be deployed by Oracle on behalf of its corporate clients, this doesn’t make up for the company’s lack of experience in B2C. Microsoft has also struggled in B2C but does at least have Xbox.
Trump has ordered TikTok’s owner ByteDance to sell its US business over security concerns, or face being shut down.
Oracle’s chairman Larry Ellison is a Trump supporter and held a fundraising event for him in February.