The battle for the embattled operations in TikTok in the US is truly getting exciting as Trump’s deadline looms near. The President has said he is not changing the date, whether it is September 15, or September 20 or November.
Yesterday, Microsoft officially reported that ByteDance, owner of TikTok, rejected its bid for TikTok US operations.
According to the American technology giant in a statement, “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.”
Though Microsoft’s bid was rejected, Walmart who was working with Microsoft in its bid, states that it “continues to have an interest in a TikTok investment and continues discussions with ByteDance leadership and other interested parties”.
Other media reports such as Financial Times and New York Times claim that Oracle is the winner of the bid for the embattled company.
Financial Times reports that “ByteDance has reached a preliminary “technical partnership” agreement with Oracle for TikTok’s US operations that does not include a full sale of the short video app.”
New York Times reports that “The Chinese owner of TikTok has chosen Oracle to be the app’s technology partner for its U.S. operations and has rejected an acquisition offer from Microsoft, according to Microsoft officials and other people involved in the negotiations, as time runs out on an executive order from President Trump threatening to ban the popular app unless its American operations are sold.”
Oracle and ByteDance have not any official statements corroborating these events.
The Chinese State media on the other hand has come out to state that neither Microsoft nor Oracle will be buying TikTok’s US operations. China’s state broadcaster CGTN reported that ByteDance will not sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft or Oracle, citing sources.
The drama continues…..
