Microsoft Bid for TikTok Operations in U.S. Rejected by ByteDance
Microsoft’s offer to take over U.S. operations of TikTok has been rejected by its parent company, ByteDance, the technology giant said Sunday.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a statement. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests.”
TheWrap has reached out to ByteDance and Microsoft for comment.
Microsoft, which is worth about $1.6 trillion, is looking to buy TikTok from its Beijing-based parent company Bytedance for $50 billion, Reuters reported in July. An antitrust expert told TheWrap last month that a Microsoft deal for TikTok wouldn’t present the same antitrust concerns as a potential Facebook bid would. But from a regulatory standpoint, the optics might not be great if the second most valuable company in the world gobbled up a powerhouse social app.
*Also Read:* TikTok Parent ByteDance Won't Sell Underlying Algorithm, China Paper Says
Microsoft, along with Oracle, Walmart, Triller and several other U.S.-based technology companies have expressed interest in buying U.S. operations of TikTok. But a source told South China Morning Post Sunday that the ByteDance board of directors wants to keep the site’s source code under its ownership, and that it won’t sell the underlying algorithm behind the popular social media site.
The elimination of the algorithm, that source said, might compel prospective buyers to rethinks its plans.
This new “no algorithm” condition to a deal with a U.S. company comes as the Trump Administration has given ByteDance until Tuesday to sell TikTok. If President Trump rejects the condition, making the divestment of TikTok impossible, the app could go dark for its users in America after the Sept. 15 deadline.
With Microsoft – which has the deepest pockets – out of the bidding war, Oracle moves to the top of the list of possible buyers. It is also one of the few Silicon Valley firms that has publically allied themselves with President Trump, as it has helped in the study and collection of data of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.
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