Amazon has bid to purchase TikTok in an eleventh-hour pitch as a US ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday. The Amazon offer was made in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. US President Donald Trump, on Inauguration Day, gave the platform a reprieve, barreling past a law that had been upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court in the US, which said the ban was necessary for national security.
Under the law, TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, must sell the platform to an approved buyer or take it offline in the US. According to Bloomberg, Donald Trump has suggested extending the pause on the ban, but he has also said he expects a deal to be forged by Saturday, April 5.
Even if Amazon’s bid fails to gain traction in the Trump administration, the company’s interest could compel other suitors to pay more, which squeezes more money out of a potential rival. Involving in negotiations could also give Amazon visibility into TikTok’s financial performance, including its TikTok Shop, a rising competitor to Amazon’s online retail business.
Donald Trump to consider proposals for selling TikTok
Trump is expected to meet with Vance and other top administration officials Wednesday afternoon to consider proposals for divesting TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. Bloomberg reported earlier that the administration is weighing other plans, including those of Oracle Corp. and Blackstone Inc., as well as potentially other investors in a joint venture.
Trump faces an April 5 deadline for ByteDance to find a buyer for TikTok’s US operations or see the app banned in the country, though he has said he would be willing to extend the deadline as necessary. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers passed the law, signed by former President Joe Biden, last year to address concerns that the Chinese government could collect sensitive data on US citizens.
US ban deadline extended previously
Trump has already extended the deadline once from January 19. Even if he signs off on the proposal, it would still require approval from TikTok’s parent company and the Chinese government. Whether ByteDance and the Chinese have been involved in the conversations remains unclear.
Trump has millions of followers on TikTok and has credited the trendsetting platform with helping him gain traction among young voters. During his first term, he was more sceptical of TikTok and issued executive orders banning dealings with ByteDance and the owners of the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
