Microsoft Corp. is in talks to acquire the US arm of ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, according to President Donald Trump, who confirmed the discussions Monday night while speaking aboard Air Force One.
“I would say yes,” Trump said when asked about Microsoft’s involvement, adding, “A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok.”
Earlier Monday, Trump addressed Republican lawmakers in Florida, hinting at ongoing negotiations about TikTok’s future.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said during his speech. “We’re going to have a lot of people bidding on it, and if we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won’t be involved—we don’t want China involved—but we’ll see what happens.”
While he had previously advocated for banning the app due to national security concerns, his stance has softened.
Trump also granted ByteDance a 75-day extension to comply with a law requiring the sale of its US operations to a domestic company.
TikTok briefly went offline in the US last week due to an anticipated ban but resumed operations shortly after Trump granted the extension.
Trump also stated:
I like bidding wars because you make your best deal. So if there’s a bidding war, that’s a good thing.
Everybody wants to buy TikTok
The popular short-video app, with over 170 million U.S. users, has attracted interest from various corners of the tech industry.
Just yesterday, Perplexity AI reportedly presented a revised merger proposal to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to include a provision allowing the US government to own up to 50% of the new entity following an IPO.
The revised proposal outlines the creation of a US-based holding company, “NewCo,” combining Perplexity AI and TikTok US.
President Trump is also said to be negotiating a deal where Oracle and a group of investors would take over TikTok’s global operations.
Oracle, which currently handles TikTok’s web infrastructure, would oversee its algorithm, data collection, and software updates.
ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, would retain a minority stake in the company.
However, Trump has denied being in talks with Oracle.
Reports also suggest that Chinese officials considered Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a potential buyer for TikTok before its acquisition deadline.
Musk’s platform X could take control of the app, and President Trump expressed openness to the idea in January.
Real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, through his non-profit Project Liberty, submitted a formal offer to ByteDance to purchase TikTok. McCourt aims to prioritize user autonomy and data privacy.
However, he emphasized that without TikTok’s proprietary algorithm—which ByteDance refuses to sell—the app is valued at only $20 billion.
Earlier in 2024, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed interest in leading a consortium to acquire TikTok.
Mnuchin stated his belief that TikTok should be under US ownership to address national security concerns.
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