Oracle weighs bid for TikTok’s US business

The company, controlled by billionaire Larry Ellison, has made a preliminary approach to other parties, including the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, to partner with it in a bid for the app’s operations in the US Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the people said, asking not to be identified.

It isn’t clear why Oracle, which focuses on business customers and has virtually no investments in consumer apps or social media, would want to acquire TikTok. However, co-founder Ellison is one of the few Silicon Valley moguls to openly support President Donald Trump. Ellison, whose company was once among the industry’s most aggressively acquisitive, hosted a fundraiser at his estate for the US president in February. The entry of Oracle would challenge Microsoft’s bargaining position, as the Redmond-based company had been the only party to publicly confirm it was in talks with TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd.