WASHINGTON - Oracle Corp has held preliminary talks with ByteDance on a potential bid for part of TikTok's business, seeking to rival Microsoft in the race to acquire the viral video streaming app, the Financial Times has reported.
The entry of Oracle could challenge Microsoft's bargaining position, as the Redmond-based company had been the only party to publicly confirm it was in talks with ByteDance. Oracle - the world's second-largest software maker - is focused on supplying to business customers and has virtually no investments in consumer apps or social media.