Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and outspoken pro-Trump, will be chosen to “acquire” TikTok. TikTok will choose the company specializing in databases and cloud solutions as a “trusted technology partner”, after rejecting the offer it had from Microsoft.
During this past Sunday, September 13, Microsoft has published a statement informing that: “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
A few hours later, it has been reported that Oracle was chosen by TikTok as a trusted partner.
The agreement has not been made official at the moment and more details of the operation are yet to come. US regulators will need to approve the operation and it is not clear that this alliance is enough to unblock the veto.
- How to use TikTok Stitch to create videos?
- Why do so many companies want to buy TikTok?
- TikTok confirms: they will take legal action against Trump
The relationship between Larry Ellison and Donald Trump is well known. The owner of Oracle has been a donor to the campaign of the current president of the US, when asked about the possibility of Oracle allying with TikTok, the president’s reaction was positive. If they operation agree on terms with Oracle, Microsoft’s bid would be left behind, as well as other possible buyers such as Walmart or Twitter.
In recent weeks, China responded to Trump’s move with a change in laws that prevented companies from exporting certain goods, including intellectual property like the TikTok algorithm. ByteDance ensures that they will not put its algorithm up for sale. According to two sources close to the operation it will be an association more than an acquisition.
