It looks like there are many interesting twists and turns of events ahead of the deadline for the purchase of TikTok by an American company. While Microsoft cannot decide whether to buy part of the Chinese company or all of it at once, and Twitter either agrees to negotiations or refuses, Oracle decided to get involved in the case. One of the largest software vendors has expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, according to the Financial Times.
Oracle also wants to acquire TikTok
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has reportedly already held preliminary talks with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and is “seriously considering” acquiring social media assets in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
We recently wrote that President Trump issued a decree directing ByteDance to sell its app in the United States within 90 days. The Financial Times notes that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is one of the few tech billionaires who openly support Trump. Whether this will affect Trump’s favor is unknown.
The deal to buy a piece of TikTok is already legally very complex. Until now, Microsoft was considered the leader in the search for the American buyer. The Financial Times confirms previously published information from The Wall Street Journal, which said Twitter also showed interest early on, but the company allegedly had serious concerns about its financial capabilities.
The price of the deal is still unknown. But it looks like TikTok will become one of the most expensive purchases in modern US history.
Trump: TikTok sale must be beneficial to the U.S.
The ban on Chinese short video app, TikTok is now feeling like a business transaction for U.S. President Donald Trump. According to a Reuters report, President Trump said that “any deal to sell Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to an American company must “substantially” benefit the United States and provide total security”. The “substantially benefit” the U.S. part is a bit confusing. Why should the sale of TikTok benefit the U.S.? Does it really matter? This is supposed to be about an American company taking over thereby eliminating the fear of security risks.
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However, this deal is now more than just an American company taking over. Recall that Microsoft and Trump already have an agreement on the proceedings for the TikTok sale. However, it appears that TikTok is not willing to sell to Microsoft. There are other American companies in line to purchase this app. Most recently, Twitter stated its desire to purchase TikTok. However, there is no substantial discussions between both companies for now.
Whatever the case may be, from September 15th, the ban on TikTok will be active. Trump seems to approve the sale of TikTok to Microsoft. We can not tell if his latest statement has a relationship with TikTok’s unwillingness to sell to Microsoft.
According to Sensor Tower, in July this year, Douyin and TikTok rank first in the global mobile app (non-game) download list with more than 65.2 million downloads, an increase of 21.4% over the same period in 2019. The United States is the market with the largest download volume in this issue, accounting for 9.7%.