Oracle Invested Millions in Government Influence before Winning a Major Stake in TikTok, by David Levinthal – 25 September 2025

Oracle isn’t quite a household name on par with other American technology companies such as Microsoft, Meta or Apple.

But Oracle nevertheless ranks among the most influential corporate forces in America — something underscored by the leading role the company is poised to play in President Donald Trump’s deal to decouple TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent, ByteDance.

Oracle is slated to house the data of American TikTok users on its cloud computing servers. The Trump administration has also confirmed that Oracle will be a cornerstone partner and investor in the new TikTok spin-off entity, which will oversee the security and algorithm that undergirds the social video platform.

U.S. government officials have long argued that a ByteDance-led TikTok is susceptible to Chinese government control and manipulation, which they say represents a national security threat.

Here are six ways Oracle has helped make itself a political force in Washington, D.C.

The Ellison-Trump connection

Oracle founder Larry Ellison ranks among the world’s wealthiest people — briefly the wealthiest earlier this month. He’s also a Trump supporter and major bankroller of Republican candidates and causes. 

A self-described “centrist,” Ellison has previously gravitated toward Trump frenemies. 

He donated more than $30 million since 2021 to Opportunity Matters Fund, a super PAC that mainly backed the 2024 presidential bid of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). 

During the 2022 election cycle, Ellison ranked 11th on OpenSecrets’ list of federal-level megadonors, having disclosed $31 million in contributions to outside spending groups supporting conservative candidates.

During Election 2016, he contributed $5 million to the Conservative Solutions PAC, which backed the presidential campaign of Trump’s current secretary of state, Marco Rubio. During 2012, he gave $3 million to Restore Our Future, a super PAC that supported Mitt Romney’s Republican presidential bid. 

Ellison has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican national party committees, along with numerous smaller contributions to other GOP causes.

And while Ellison himself never became a Trump megadonor, the two billionaires have developed a rapport amid Trump’s political ascendance.

Ellison hosted a six-figure-per-person campaign fundraiser for Trump in 2020 at his estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif. 

He’s dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago during 2024 and met with Trump regularly in 2025, including during a White House announcement where the president announced Oracle would be a key player in a $500 billion artificial intelligence partnership dubbed “Stargate.” 

Trump in January said he’d “like Larry to buy” TikTok.

Then there’s Ellison’s son, David.

The younger Ellison is now CEO and chairman of Paramount Skydance after his Skydance Media company successfully merged with entertainment powerhouse Paramount, which owned CBS. 

David Ellison succeeded after Paramount this year paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit the president filed against CBS, in which the president alleged newsmagazine “60 Minutes” engaged in election interference last year through its editing of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS also announced the cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — Colbert routinely satirizes and criticizes Trump. 

CBS News has also installed former Trump adviser Kenneth Weinstein as its ombudsman and, per NPR, is in discussions to tap right-leaning media executive Bari Weiss for a leadership role.

Lobbying

Oracle has spent at least $11 million on federal-level government lobbying during each of the past four full years, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of federal records. And the company is on pace to match that level of spending in 2025.

Oracle in 2024 ranked among an exclusive group of companies and trade associations that cracked the eight-figure mark for federal lobbying — one that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Amazon, General Motors, tobacco company Altria Group and Google parent Alphabet.

During the first half of 2025, Oracle has employed or contracted with 64 different federal lobbyists across 11 different lobbying firms, plus its own in-house government affairs office.

Among Oracle lobbyists are four former federal lawmakers: Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) and Reps. Bob Livingston (R-La.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), and Jeff Miller (R-Fla.). Miller this year has at times represented both Oracle and ByteDance.

Oracle lobbyists have targeted numerous parts of the U.S. government this year, including the White House, Office of the Vice President, National Security Council, Office of Management and Budget, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce and Department of the Treasury, federal records indicate.

Political action committee

Oracle sponsors the Oracle America Inc. Political Action Committee, which typically contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars each election cycle to federal political candidates and party committees, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

On balance this century, Oracle PAC’s spending has been decidedly bipartisan — although it’s trended slightly toward Republicans during the past two election cycles.

Top recipients during the 2024 election cycle include Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), each of whom received the legal maximum of $10,000.

Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) received $7,500.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee each accepted $15,000 in Oracle PAC cash.

Executives’ contributions

In addition to Ellison, hundreds of other Oracle executives and employees have made sizable political contributions of late. 

Former Oracle CEO Safra Catz, now the company’s executive vice chairwoman, served on Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team. 

Catz, the recently departed CEO, gave $1 million last year to Preserve America PAC, a super PAC that spent more than $112 million to boost Trump by advocating against the election of Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and earlier, President Joe Biden before he quit the race.

Catz also spread tens of thousands of dollars among Republican committees such as the NRCC and NRSC.

Executive Vice President Kenneth Glueck, a top Oracle lobbyist, also contributed tens of thousands of dollars last election cycle to Republican political committees.

And while many five-, six- and seven-figure donations from Oracle employees to political interests ended up in Republican coffers, one Oracle executive — Evan Goldberg, the executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite — made large donations to several Democratic committees last election cycle. 

They include six-figure amounts each to Black PAC, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee.

Personal investments among politicians

Trump is himself an Oracle stock holder, although not a major one: His most recent personal financial disclosure indicates he owned Oracle shares worth between $32,004 and $130,000 during 2024.

Meanwhile, several members of Congress have this year reported trading shares of Oracle stock, including Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), as well as Reps. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), according to congressional financial disclosure records.

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) in part violated the disclosure provisions of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act by disclosing Oracle stock trades past a 45-day federal deadline for doing so.

Trump-friendly public relations

In July, Oracle said it is “proud to work with the Trump administration” and lauded “President Trump’s leadership” on a health care data initiative.

Oracle was among the sponsors of Trump’s June military parade in Washington, D.C., receiving public recognition for supporting the event with an undisclosed amount of money.

In May, Oracle published a statement praising the “decisive actions and strong leadership of President Trump and his administration” regarding a “lightning speed” AI deal with Saudi Arabia.

Oracle also helped the pro-Trump Heritage Foundation build a personnel database of “vetted and loyal foot soldiers” for its Project 2025 initiative, according to Politico.

Oracle did not respond to requests for comment.

Dave Levinthal is a Washington, D.C.-based investigative journalist. He served as OpenSecrets’ editorial and communications director from 2009 to 2011.