When Oracle turned to Wall Street earlier this year to raise $20bn in a bond sale, it immediately prompted speculation that Larry Ellison, the company’s co-founder and chairman, might be preparing a big acquisition.

But a purchase of the US business of TikTok — even if it had been on the market at the time — would have been at the bottom of virtually every expert’s list.

That has not stopped Mr Ellison emerging this week as a potential bidder — in league with a group of venture capital investors — for parts of the Chinese-owned video app sensation. Among the most intriguing aspects of the surprise intervention: it could put Mr Ellison in a race against the clock with longtime rival Microsoft to salvage TikTok’s US operations, which are facing forced closure by the White House.